Spacey was Mendes ' first choice for the role of Lester, even though DreamWorks had urged the director to consider better-known actors ; similarly, the studio suggested several actors for the role of Carolyn until Mendes offered the part to Bening without DreamWorks ' knowledge.

Smith alleged that actress Eva Mendes, a Latina, was offered the female lead because the producers were worried about the public's reaction if the part was played by a White actress ( creating a potential interracial taboo ) or a Black actress ( creating a studio fear that two black leads would alienate the white audiences ).

Mendes had Spacey and Bening in mind for the leads from the beginning, but DreamWorks executives were unenthusiastic.

" Bening and a hair stylist collaborated to create a " PTA president coif " hairstyle, and Mendes and production designer Naomi Shohan researched mail order catalogs to better establish Carolyn's environment of a " spotless suburban manor ".

To help Bening get into Carolyn's mindset, Mendes gave her music that he believed Carolyn would like.

Her only film appearance that year, Milder has a small role in Diane English's comedy film The Women, starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes among others.

Recent motion pictures in which the agency has been involved in include Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Robert Duvall, and directed by Scott Cooper ; Richard Eyre ’ s The Other Man, starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney ; Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, starring Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Williams, and Kim Cattrall ; James Toback's documentary Tyson, which was the official selection in Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and won a specially named " Knockout " prize ; Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won a special jury prize ; and The Women, directed by Diane English and starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Candice Bergen, and Bette Midler.

Diane English directed and co-wrote a long-in-development contemporary remake of the film, starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes and Annette Bening, which was released in 2008.

The comedy, which is a remake of the 1939 George Cukor film of the same name, stars Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, and Annette Bening, and was released in 2008, to mostly negative reviews, although tripling its budget worldwide .< ref >

Next he teamed up with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins's and Richard Piers Rayner's graphic novel Road to Perdition, in which he played an anti-hero role as a hitman on the run with his son.

Mendes ' background also reassured him, because of the prominent role the playwright usually has in a theater production.

In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes ' Broadway revival of musical Cabaret on Broadway, succeeding Natasha Richardson who originated the role in Mendes ' production.

The actor, attracted to the prospect of working with Mendes and his crew, accepted the role of Nitti, a real-life Mob boss from Chicago.

* Jennifer Jason Leigh as Annie Sullivan, the wife of Michael Sullivan, Sr., the actress was a friend of Sam Mendes and portrayed the role as a favor to him.

He familiarized himself with the role by analyzing interviews and footage from Mendes ' Xapuri Rubber Tappers ' Union, being impressed by the subject's actions.

In 1998, she played the role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes ' acclaimed revival of Cabaret on Broadway, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Mendes ' breakthrough role came when she appeared in Training Day as the girlfriend of Denzel Washington's character.

In 1996, Gish played the role of Joanne in Stephen Sondheim's Company at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Sam Mendes.

Broadway called upon Secada once again in 2003, where he played the Emcee role in Sam Mendes ' acclaimed version of Cabaret.

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt ( born September 20, 1966 ) is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads " More Than Words " and " Hole Hearted ".

He appeared in the title role of the RSC's 1993 production of Richard III, directed by Sam Mendes ; Mendes turned to Hinds as a last minute replacement for an injured Simon Russell Beale.

In his second season with Tottenham, Mendes was reduced to a peripheral role.

José Mendes Cabeçadas Júnior, OTE, ComA (), commonly known as Mendes Cabeçadas ( Loulé, August 19, 1883-Lisbon, June 11, 1965 ), was a Portuguese Marine officer, free mason and republican, having a major role in the preparation of the revolutionary movements that created and ended the Portuguese First Republic: the 5 October revolution in 1910 and the 28 May coup d ' état of 1926.

Mendes encouraged some improvisation ; for example, when Lester masturbates in bed beside Carolyn, the director asked Spacey to improvise several euphemisms for the act in each take.

" Aware that he was a novice, Mendes drew on the experience of Hall: " I made a very conscious decision early on, if I didn't understand something technically, to say, without embarrassment, ' I don't understand what you're talking about, please explain it.

He and Mendes argued, but Ball was more accepting after Mendes cut the sequences completely ; Ball felt that without the scenes the film was more optimistic and had evolved into something that " for all its darkness had a really romantic heart ".

The concept of a downward-pointing pentagram on its forehead was enlarged upon by Lévi in his discussion ( without illustration ) of the Goat of Mendes arranged within such a pentagram, which he contrasted with the microcosmic man arranged within a similar but upright pentagram.

American Beauty marked acclaimed theater director Mendes ' film debut ; courted after his successful productions of the musicals Oliver!

Mendes ' dominant style was deliberate and composed ; he made extensive use of static shots and slow pans and zooms to generate tension.

Reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey and Ball ; criticism tended to focus on the familiarity of the characters and setting.

Lester's fantasies are emphasized by slow motion and repetitive motion shots ; Mendes uses double-and-triple cut backs in several sequences, and the score alters to make the audience aware that it is entering a fantasy.

Mendes came across American Beauty in a pile of eight scripts at Swofford's house, and knew immediately that it was the one he wanted to make ; early in his career, he had been inspired by how the film Paris, Texas ( 1984 ) presented contemporary America as a mythic landscape and he saw the same theme in American Beauty, as well as parallels with his own childhood.

Mendes later met with Spielberg ; impressed by Mendes ' productions of Oliver!

Ball was also keen ; having seen Cabaret, he was impressed with Mendes ' " keen visual sense " and thought he did not make obvious choices.

During the film, Lester's physique improves from flabby to toned ; Spacey worked out during filming to improve his body, but because Mendes shot the scenes out of chronological order, Spacey varied postures to portray the stages.

The scene took four takes ; two by the second unit did not satisfy Mendes, so he shot the scene himself.

Mendes avoided using close-ups, as he believed the technique was overused ; he also cited Spielberg's advice that he should imagine an audience silhouetted at the bottom of the camera monitor, to keep in mind that he was shooting for display on a screen.

Instead, Mendes was drawn to the emotion and darkness ; he began to use the score and shots he had intended to discard to craft the film along these lines.

He trialled several versions of the opening ; the first edit included bookend scenes in which Jane and Ricky are convicted of Lester's murder, but Mendes excised these in the last week of editing because he felt they made the film lose its mystery, and because they did not fit with the theme of redemption that had emerged during production.

Conrad Hall was not the first choice for director of photography ; Mendes believed he was " too old and too experienced " to want the job, and he had been told that Hall was difficult to work with.

Hall was involved for one month during pre-production ; his ideas for lighting the film began with his first reading of the script, and further passes allowed him to refine his approach before meeting Mendes.

Mendes asked Hall to prepare the shot in his absence ; Hall assumed the characters would look for privacy, so he placed them in a narrow passage between a truck and the building, intending to light from the top of the truck.

" DreamWorks did not want to test screen the film ; according to Mendes, the studio was pleased with it, but he insisted on one where he could question the audience afterward.

However, these scenes are not on the DVD as he changed his mind after recording the commentary ; Mendes felt that to show scenes he previously chose not to use would detract from the film's integrity.