10 Things You Didn't Know About American Beauty

Undoubtedly the most controversial scene of American Beauty involves Jane removing her top at her bedroom window while Ricky films her from his adjacent bedroom. The scene is a coming-of-age moment which symbolises Jane’s maturation as well as her opening herself up and being vulnerable to Ricky. The real-world controversy was that Thora Birch was only seventeen.

Birch’s parents had to give explicit permission for the scene. However, Birch noted that “they weren’t jumping up and down” with joy. Her father (former adult actor Jack Birch), and child labour representatives, were on-set during filming.

In a retrospective interview Birch commented that shooting the scene was “definitely a nerve wrecking moment”. She acknowledged that the scene “upset” some, though she defended it as depicting Jane as "vulnerable" rather than “sexual” and opined that "[…] it made sense. It wasn’t something that shouldn’t be in there. It’s something that would happen”.

The scene could’ve been more controversial considering the role of Jane was initially offered to Kirsten Dunst, who was only fifteen when she received the offer. When interviewed as an adult, Dunst reasoned that she “didn’t want to kiss Kevin Spacey or be seen lying naked in those rose petals”.