Kevin Spacey scandal taints ‘American Beauty,’ says screenwriter Alan Ball
Kevin Spacey is still leaving his mark on “American Beauty” 21 years later — just in an unexpected way.
That’s the assessment of the film’s screenwriter, Alan Ball, who admits that sexual impropriety accusations against Spacey are tainting the film’s legacy.
“I feel really sad because of what happened with Kevin had sort of left its mark on it. Especially since the character he played in the movie is somebody who is lusting after a 17-year-old girl,” Ball explained to the Independent. “I wonder if that movie would get made now.”
In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp claimed he was 14 years old when Spacey made sexual advances toward him in the mid-1980s.
Soon after that bombshell revelation, Spacey was fired from the Netflix series “House of Cards” and his character killed off.
“American Beauty” won five Academy Awards, including for best picture, Ball’s screenplay, director Sam Mendes and Spacey for lead actor.
Thora Birch, who played Spacey’s teen daughter Jane in “American Beauty,” told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 that Spacey was on his best behavior during filming.
“He was one of the best actors to work with,” explained Birch. “Apart from that, I don’t know too much about him.”
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In 2017, Spacey’s scenes as J. Paul Getty in the Oscar-nominated film “All the Money in the World” were cut just weeks before release.
Director Ridley Scott called on Christopher Plummer for reshoots and the then-88-year-old actor landed an Academy Award nomination for the role.
