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| “ | I'm just an ordinary guy with nothing to lose. | „ |
| ~ Lester after blackmailing his boss. |
| “ | You don't get to tell me what to do ever again. | „ |
| ~ Lester to his wife, Carolyn. |
Lester Burnham is the main protagonist of the 1999 comedy drama film American Beauty. He is a 42-year-old man who is sexually obsessed with his daughter's best friend Angela Hayes, who is 17. In the film, Lester is seen having a mid-life crisis, realizing that he has lost joy in his life and is now numb to everything.
He was portrayed by Kevin Spacey, who also played Albert Benton in Unsub, Buddy Ackerman in Swimming with Sharks, Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects, John Doe in Se7en, Hopper in A Bug's Life, Lex Luthor in Superman Returns, Clyde Northcutt in Fred Claus, Micky Rosa in 21, David Harken in the Horrible Bosses duology, Dr. Nerse in The Cleveland Show, Frank Underwood in House of Cards, Jonathan Irons in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Doc in Baby Driver.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Lester Burnham was born in 1957, in an unidentified US state. At an early age, Lester describes himself as being extremely care-free and happy, with him going to boy scout camp, spending time with his grandmother and having fun with his cousin, Tony.
After finishing tertiary education, Lester found a job as a magazine journalist for a tabloid and magazine published by the reputed Media Monthly company. By Lester's mid 20's to early 30's, he married real estate agent, Carolyn and eventually had a child with her, Jane.
Mid-life crisis[]
At around the age of 42, Lester goes through a mid-life crisis, mostly due to his dead-end job, his daughter starting to have mood swings and anxiety and his sex-life with Carolyn going down the drain. By 1999, Lester meets his new next-door neighbors, the Fitts family, which consists of retired US Marine colonel Frank, his wife Barbara, and their teenage son Ricky Fitts, who fondly documents using his camcorder, collecting dozens of recordings, and also works a part-time job as a catering company waiter to serve as a front for his secret marijuana dealings. At a high school basketball game, Lester and Carolyn watch on as Jane and her friend, Angela Hayes do some cheerleading. Lester becomes obsessed with Angela, having sexual fantasies of her, that usually include red rose petals. Lester eventually becomes a lazy and complete nihilist, blackmailing his boss when he attempts to fire him.
Soon after, Lester attends a party, where encounters Ricky Fitts, who eventually starts dealing Lester marijuana, which Lester starts smoking regularly. When Lester starts becoming more and more lazy and neglectful to Carolyn and Jane, Carolyn starts having an affair with her real estate agent rival, Buddy Kane while Jane starts having conflict with Angela when she realizes that Lester is in love with her, with Jane also starting to date Ricky. Later, Lester starts working at local fast-food joint Mr. Smiley's, buys his dream car and becoming aggressive with his family.
Lester soon finds out about Carolyn's affair, with a desire for revenge exposes her infidelity to everyone in the situation. Later, Frank finds out about Ricky and Lester's business dealings, which he mistakes for a sexual affair, eventually falsely accusing Ricky of becoming a gay prostitute. Ricky plays along and plans to run away from home with Jane, with Jane having a then falling out with Angela, while Carolyn begins thinking about murdering Lester with a handgun. Frank tearfully approaches Lester in the latter's garage, attempting to kiss Lester, who denies being gay. Lester enters his house and finds a crying Angela, whom he tries to comfort; the latter eventually seduces Lester, who takes her to a couch. As Lester starts undressing her, preparing for sex, Angela admits her virginity, revealing that her apparent experience was a veil for her innocence. Suddenly confronted by an innocent child, Lester realizes the error of his ways wherein he shifts to being a father-figure, and begins treating her as his own daughter. During a bond over dinner, Angela excuses herself for the restroom while Lester walks towards an old family photograph. Lester is then shot in the head by an unknown figure, revealed to be Frank. Lester narrates the moments after his death, finally happy.
Personality[]
In Lester's early life, he was happy, and it is implied that he barely cared about the bad things in life. When Lester dies, he narrates about his lost joy, especially during his childhood, such as seeing his cousin Tony's new Firebird, his late grandmother and watching the stars while he was in boy scout camp.
Eventually, Lester loses his sense of joy and happiness as his relationship with his wife, Carolyn and daughter, Jane dissolving over time. In the opening scene of the film, Lester is seen extremely depressed, going through a complete mid-life crisis, yearning for days he, his wife and his daughter were all happy. Soon after, Lester begins to act extremely lazy and immature, smoking marijuana and working at a fast food restaurant.
Despite this, Lester still cares for his family, along with still wishing for himself and his family to be happy together once again. Not to mention that despite obsessing over Jane's best friend, Angela. He still respects her when he realizes that having sex with her is not the right path his life should go in. When Lester dies, he is happy, looking at a picture of his family, just before being shot to death.
Quotes[]
| “ | My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This is my life. I'm 42 years old. In less than a year, I'll be dead. Of course, I don't know that yet. And in a way, I'm dead already. Look at me. Jerking off in the shower. This will be the high point of my day. It's all downhill from here. That's my wife, Carolyn. See the way the handle on those pruning shears matches her gardening clogs? That's not an accident. That's our next-door neighbor, Jim. And that's his lover, Jim. Man, I get exhausted just watching her. She wasn't always like this. She used to be happy. We used to be happy. My daughter, Jane. Only child. Janie's a pretty typical teenager: angry, insecure, confused. I wish I could tell her that's all going to pass, but I don't want to lie to her. Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser. And they're right. I have lost something. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know I didn't always feel this... sedated. But you know what? It's never too late to get it back. | „ |
| ~ Lester Burnham narrating the opening scene of the film. |
| “ | I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday. | „ |
| ~ Lester Burnham narrating the moments after his death. |
Trivia[]
- Most of Lester's lines were improvised by Kevin Spacey.
- One example is his singing of "American Woman" while driving to a local fast food joint.
- Kevin Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Lester in the film.
- In the initial script, Lester actually went through with having sex and sleeping with Angela. The filmmakers eventually decided that having him stop right beforehand would be more effective