[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Lester Burnham]]
!!Lester Burnham
->'''Played By:''' Creator/KevinSpacey
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lester.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser... and they're right."]]

A HenpeckedHusband and [[DullSurprise personality-less]] advertising-magazine wage slave who feels trapped in a shallow and meaningless life. He is the film's {{Posthumous Narrat|ion}}or and main character, and the story concerns his efforts to find happiness.
----
* AdoptTheDog: He holds back from [[spoiler:taking the girl of his dreams, when he finds out that she's still a virgin]].
* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: He lusts after the teenaged cheerleader Angela.
* AMFMCharacterization: He's a Music/PinkFloyd fan, as he's amazed that Ricky owns a copy of ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon''. He also sings "American Woman" by Music/TheGuessWho while stoned in the car.
* BurgerFool: He becomes one voluntarily and, unlike his co-workers, seems to enjoy it.
* CardboardBoxOfUnemployment: After he succeeds in blackmailing his boss and quitting his boring desk job, he leaves the office carrying a box with his belongings hoisted on his shoulder and pumping his fist triumphantly.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: There are two occasions where Lester masturbates: the shower in opening scene, and when he's having dirty dreams about Angela at the middle of the film. Carolyn catches him at the latter.
* CharacterDevelopment: His midlife crisis acts not only as a catalyst that changes Lester, but most of the other major characters in the film.
* ChivalrousPervert: His obsession over Angela is pretty {{squick}}-inducing, but when he actually has a chance to fulfill his fantasy, [[spoiler:he stops once he realizes that for all her bravado, Angela is still a virgin]].
* ClassicalAntihero: Lacks initiative, big time. At least at first. See ThisLoserIsYou and HenpeckedHusband.
* DeadpanSnarker: To the nth degree. His response to finding his wife cheating on him is more snarky than enraged.
* DiesWideOpen: His corpse was discovered by Ricky and Jane this way.
* DullSurprise: [[InvokedTrope Done deliberately to highlight his detachment from the world around him]].
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: He's the object of [[spoiler:Frank Fitts']] desires. [[spoiler: Lester doesn't reciprocate and Frank ends up killing him, but not because of said rejection, but more because HeKnowsTooMuch.]]
* FanservicePack: He starts working out around the second quarter of the film.
* GoOutWithASmile: Lester smiles as he lies dying. He just learned his daughter is happy, and is remembering the good times with his family, when he is murdered.
* TheHedonist: Embraces this lifestyle as he tries to find happiness in his dull life.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: When he finally realises how awfully he's been behaving, and how much he really does care about his family, he's shot in the head before he can ever mend his relationship with them.
* HenpeckedHusband: To say his wife doesn't respect him and he lacked self-respect in the beginning is an understatement.
* TheHeroDies: The movie follows his PosthumousNarration leading to his death.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: PlayedWith regarding his attitude toward Carolyn's affair with Buddy. Lester ultimately seems rather indifferent to the affair itself, and wasn't so much happy for his wife finding happiness with someone else as he was delighted at being able to experience a bit of ''schadenfreude'' at seeing his wife, who had adopted a superior-than-thou attitude towards him and pretty much everyone throughout the movie (at least in public) being brought down a peg or two in a rather publicly humiliating fashion through being exposed as an adulteress in front of him and everyone he works with.
-->'''Lester:''' Honey it's okay... I want you to be happy. [[SarcasmMode Would you like Smiley sauce with that?]]\\
'''Carolyn:''' Lester just stop it!\\
'''Lester:''' No no--You don't get to tell me what to do ever again.
** Despite their serious disconnect, nearing the film's climax, Lester's face is practically beaming with a huge, genuine smile when Angela tells him his daughter Jane "thinks she's in love" and is happy.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Forms one with the teenaged Ricky.
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: His CharacterDevelopment arc goes through this and out the other side before being tragically cut short.
* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: The film opens by showing Lester's miserable daily life, which among other things includes him glumly masturbating in the shower thanks to his dissatisfying and dysfunctional SexlessMarriage with Carolyn. The fact that he does this out of sexual frustration is further highlighted by how he only begins to rebel against the confines of his joyless life after becoming sexually fixated on Angela. Later, when Carolyn catches him jacking off, the two get into an argument about their shared sexual frustration, with her refusing to engage with him when he says that he's ready to take care of that.
* MeaningfulName: "Lester Burnham" is an anagram of "[[Literature/{{Lolita}} Humbert]] [[CharacterDevelopment Learns]]".
* MistakenForGay: By Col. Fitts, [[spoiler: who has the hots for him]]; he turns him down gently.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: When he realizes Angela is a virgin and has been putting up a front]].
* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: Happens to him when he dies.
-->"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."
* {{Posthumous Narrat|ion}}or: The crux of this film is the already deceased Lester Burnham narrating his life.
* SexlessMarriage: The only boinking Lester gets is masturbating in the shower, and once in bed.
* SoulCrushingDeskJob: He works a boring desk job that, along with his troubled marriage, he believes is killing him. As part of his midlife crisis, he blackmails his boss, quits his job, and goes back to flipping burgers, [[HappinessInMinimumWage which he finds far more satisfying]].
* StacysMom: Angela, a teenage girl, is attracted to him and is willing to have sex with him.
* TantrumThrowing: Lester throwing a plate of food against the wall.
* ThisLoserIsYou: At first, a shabby, desperate, unhappy man with a midlife crisis.
* TookALevelInBadass: After quitting his job, he begins working out... and standing up to his wife.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Lester spends the entire film lusting after Angela, a sixteen year old girl young enough to be his daughter. When she propositions him for sex near the end of the film, [[spoiler:he finally realises that for all her bravado, she's a terrified minor who has never been with anyone, and can't go through with it.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carolyn Burnham]]
!!Carolyn Burnham
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AnnetteBening
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmtu4mzewodqzof5bml5banbnxkftztcwmtiyody3mw_v1_sx1450_cr001450999_al.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"My company sells an image. It's part of my job to live that image."]]

Lester's wife, head of a real-estate firm and a Stepford Smiler of alarming caliber.
----
* AMFMCharacterization: She sings Music/BobbyDarin's version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" in the car.
* AbusiveParent: She's emotionally abusive to Jane, though it doesn't seem to be intentional. [[spoiler:Later, during a moment when she's particularly high-strung, she slaps her.]]
* [[BeingEvilSucks Being A Jerk Sucks]]: Behind her demanding, {{Jerkass}} attitude, Carolyn is a woman intensely unhappy with her life and with herself for failing to reach her own impossibly-high standards. Best illustrated when she starts to break down after failing to sell a house, and then [[SelfHarm starts slapping herself]].
-->'''Carolyn:''' ''Shut up!'' '''''Shut up!!'''''
* BitchAlert: One of her earliest lines to her daughter are "are you trying to look unattractive today?" and her idea of congratulating her on her routine is, "you didn't screw up once!"
* BreakTheHaughty: By the end of the film, [[spoiler: this domineering {{Jerkass}} is reduced to a sobbing wreck]].
* HiddenDepths: Carolyn initially just seems like a perfectionist, snarky wife, but is shown later to have her own wants and needs like Lester does ("You think you're the only one who's sexually frustrated?"). Other scenes imply that her own self-imposed high standards have made her miserable. Lester remembers Carolyn as having once been a happy woman, before her own obsession with being perfect made her who she is now.
* ImmodestOrgasm: "Fuck me, your majesty!"
* {{Jerkass}}: She has high standards that she makes painfully clear her husband and daughter fall short of, and has no problem being verbally and physically abusive to both.
* MomentKiller: She was about to have sex with Lester for the first time in a long time, until she panicked about him spilling beer on the couch.
* ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: She is unhealthily fixated on her family's image of perfection and getting all her motivation from self-help tapes.
* PowerHair: Short, layered, feminine hair to fit her image of a go-getting Real Estate Agent. One of her numerous ways of "projecting an image of success at all times." Notably, in photographs to her younger days - where Lester describes her as happy - her hair is longer.
* SexlessMarriage: She and Lester haven't made love in a very long time.
* SkewedPriorities: Lester chews her out for being more concerned about beer getting spilled on the couch than having an intimate moment with him.
* StepfordSmiler: On the surface, a successful Real Estate Agent with perfect hair, clothes, and makeup who is perfectly cheery. In reality, she strips her husband and daughter of their self-esteem while being immensely unhappy with herself for failing to reach her own expectations.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Subverted. She hits Jane but actually ''stops'' crying and apologizing as she does so, as Jane was having none of her mother's emotional blackmail.
* WillNotBeAVictim: Invokes this herself [[spoiler: on her way to (supposedly) kill Lester]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jane Burnham]]
!!Jane Burnham
->'''Played By:''' Creator/ThoraBirch
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/95e76ff6.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"My parents are coming tonight. They're trying to, you know, take an active interest in me."]]

Lester and Carolyn's daughter of sixteen years. She resents the way her father has begun to withdraw from her, and, in the very first scene of the movie, takes someone up on an offer to murder him.
----
* ACupAngst: She's looking up breast augmentation on the internet early in the movie. Subverted in that it turns out she is actually well-endowed, but her insecurity comes from the fact that one of her breasts is a little larger than the other.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: She's really detached from others.
* DaddysGirl: Subverted- she and Lester used to be close, but at the start of the film they barely speak and Jane resents him for his obvious crush on Angela. She even says to Ricky, "It would be nice if I was anywhere near as important to him as she is."
* DeadpanSnarker: She is Lester's daughter and finds plenty to mock, with both parents.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Towards Ricky, but not to her father.
* EmoTeen: Due to her familial issues, she is a moody, unhappy girl that wears a lot of dark colors.
* FreudianExcuse: She's bratty and aloof towards her parents, but to be honest, they kinda deserve it. ''Especially'' Carolyn.
* HatesTheirParent: She hates her pathetic dad and conspires to have him put out of his misery [[spoiler: but not really]].
* HeadTurningBeauty: Ricky often comments on her attractiveness.
* IceQueen: Not very warm with her parents, though understandably, not far off.
* InformedAttractiveness: Ricky says Jane is interesting, as opposed to Angela who is boring and "totally ordinary," though while onscreen, Angela, an aspiring model, is much more day-seizing and dynamic (or at least her stories are) than Jane, who mostly just complains about her parents or serves as an audience/conversation partner for Ricky. Anyone who likes thin, chatty, materialistic blondes over curvy, quiet, thoughtful brunettes will be rather flabbergasted by Ricky's claim. However, anyone attracted to more sensitive types don't need to be informed of Jane's attractiveness or Angela's lack of appeal. Jane clearly appreciates depth and artistry in a person with the way she finds Ricky so fascinating and asks him questions to understand him rather than blindly judging him outright based on hearsay, while Angela is a lot more shallow, focused on the material surface level of things, and judges people based on rumors she hears, making Jane more mature despite her perpetual upset over her unhealthy home life making her seem moody and immature to some people, and Angela more immature despite her constant boasting of how mature she is making her seem ahead of other girls.
* LettingHerHairDown: When she shows Ricky her breasts, she lets her hair down first. She is also shown with her hair down when she and Ricky have their intimate scene.
* MeaningfulName: Could be a play on Plain Jane, but as Ricky points out, she is beautiful. Opposite of Angela in that she isn't a conventional beauty.
* ProgressivelyPrettier: She wears a lot of makeup to start, but as her confidence grows, she stops putting it on, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Her long black hair contrasts with her pale-white skin.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Angela Hayes]]
!!Angela Hayes
->'''Played By:''' Creator/MenaSuvari
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5a1f08b12ae13.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"If people I don't even know look at me and want to fuck me, it means... I really have a shot at being a model!"]]

A girl on the cheerleading team with Jane who quickly becomes the object of Lester's fantasies, causing him to start an intensive work-out regimen in an attempt to seduce her. She acts more worldly and experienced than Jane, and isn't afraid to use her body to advantage.
----
* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: The first time Lester sees her (and becomes infatuated with her) is when he watches her cheerleading routine.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Her claim, and she's right to an extent.
* FilleFatale: Subverted, if not full on Deconstructed. The original script also called for Jane to stand trial for Lester's murder, which would be a more straight example.
* HaveIMentionedIAmSexuallyActiveToday: [[spoiler: It's all a lie.]]
* HiddenDepths: Linked to her InferioritySuperiorityComplex. When she's on the receiving end of Ricky's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, her reaction implies that his comments hit a lot of hidden but poorly-managed insecurities. [[spoiler: When Jane finally has enough and leaves her, she seems genuinely [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone saddened]]. Then there's the final reveal that she's actually a virgin, and that her [[TheTease Tease]] persona is an act. In the end, the seemingly-lustful, sensual Literature/{{Lolita}} {{Expy}} is revealed to simply be a fairly typical teenager: vulnerable and insecure, and trying to seem more experienced and confident than she actually is.]]
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: She wants to be popular but Ricky calls her out for being boring and ordinary.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Treats Jane like her sidekick and flaunts her looks in front of people her own age, but when Ricky talks to Jane and not her, she complains, "He didn't even look at me once!" [[spoiler: However, we see later in the movie that she's actually very vulnerable and insecure, and much of what she's been saying is a lie.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: She's vain, self-centered, and puts Jane down a lot.
* MeaningfulName: Her last name is a homonym for "Haze", inviting comparisons to Dolores "Lolita" Haze, the titular character of ''Literature/{{Lolita}}''.
* MsFanservice: Mena Suvari naked (albeit with her breasts and crotch hidden) on a bed of rose petals. "Spectacular," indeed.
* TheTease: Deliberately encourages Lester's crush on her because it makes her feel good. [[spoiler: When he actually flirts back, she immediately gets uncomfortable and leaves. This is turns out to be major {{Foreshadowing}} of her being a virgin, and much more insecure than she appears.]]
* ToxicFriendInfluence: She keeps Jane around because Jane makes her feel better about herself.
* UnexpectedVirgin: [[spoiler: Despite having a reputation as someone who ReallyGetsAround, she has yet to have sex. When Lester learns this when they're about to have sex, he stops himself.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ricky Fitts]]
!!Ricky Fitts
->'''Played By:''' Creator/WesBentley
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wes_bentley_as_ricky_fitts.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"I didn't mean to scare you. I just think you're interesting."]]

The new next-door neighbor to the Burnhams and Jane's eventual love interest. He is a weird combination of StalkerWithACrush, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and ShroudedInMyth (in regards to where he was before he moved here), and [[OnlySaneMan sees more clearly than anyone else in the cast]]. He is an experienced dealer of marijuana, becoming Lester's supplier, and carries a video camera everywhere to record interesting moments out of his life.
----
* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Charges extremely high prices for his weed, as he's the only supplier around and caters to middle-to-upper class clientele.
* AMFMCharacterization: He's a Music/PinkFloyd fan and owns a copy of ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'', which amazes Lester.
* CameraFiend: Angela thinks he's this but he films Jane because he thinks she's interesting, and stops when she asks him to. The scene where Jane strips off for him on camera points this out as, while she is topless, Ricky is pointing the camera at her eyes because of her expression.
* CreepyGood: He films people without their knowledge, as well as dead animals (and people), and speaks in a rather quiet, low voice, with a permanent intense stare, and is a drug dealer to boot. But he's actually a good guy (notably, he stops filming as soon as Jane asks him to, and clearly means no harm), and is probably more well-adjusted than most of the cast.
* FreakyIsCool: Doesn't give a damn what anybody thinks of him.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Strikes up a friendship with Lester, who's old enough to be his father.
* IntimateArtistry: He takes his video camera with him everywhere and views the entire world through the viewfinder. Though extremely creepy and borderline (or ''over'' the border) [[StalkerWithACrush stalking]], he is shown growing attached to and connecting with people and experiences much more deeply than any other character. He and Jane Burnham grow closer as he films her.
* LonersAreFreaks: Ironically, he is probably the most normal person of the main cast.
** Also an Ironic MeaningfulName: he does ''not'' fit. It's not a coincidence that the movie starts when his family moves in next door.
** His backstory is that he had a fit (flying into a rage and attacking another kid) that landed him in a mental hospital, and his father had a fit when he though Ricky was servicing Lester.
* MilitaryBrat: His father is a (retired) military man.
* NightmareFetishist: His obsession with "beauty" extends to gazing with fascinated detachment at Lester's corpse lying in a pool of blood.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** Gives a particularly cutting one to Angela after she's a bitch to Jane one too many times. She runs off in tears.
** Also gives one to his Dad. "What a sad old man you are."
* StalkingIsLove: PlayedStraight, although he means no harm, and really does love Jane.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Buddy Kane]]
!!Buddy Kane
->'''Played By:''' Creator/PeterGallagher
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clxpfvoxiaaqysx.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Who's the king?"]]

Carolyn's main business rival, the self-styled "King of Real Estate." He's powerful, success-minded, has enormously charismatic eyebrows, and appeals to her StepfordSmiler instincts: "In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times." Eventually, the two of them start an affair.

* BigOlEyebrows: He sports a very impressive pair. DVDCommentary claims that cast and crew were occasionally mesmerized.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When we first meet him, he's with his lady of the moment, and still takes the time to not only subtly seduce Carolyn, but also totally ignore her husband Lester, failing to acknowledge that they've met before.
* MarriedToTheJob: He mentions to Carolyn that his girlfriend split up with him because she thought he was too focused on his career.
* SexGod: Carolyn certainly seems to think so.
* SilverFox: A middle-aged gentleman who is charming and very attractive overall.
* SmugSnake: Overly confident and handsome, he nonetheless shrinks into the background when he and Carolyn are caught cheating in the Mr. Smiley's drive-thru lane. He later sheepishly begs off when he and Carolyn are about to have another of their regular trysts at a local motel, citing ugliness that would pop up during his divorce proceedings.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Frank Fitts]]
!!Col. Frank Fitts, USMC
->'''Played By:''' Creator/ChrisCooper
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chris_cooper_american_beauty.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"You need structure... you need discipline."]]

A now-inactive Marine who [[TheVietnamVet fought in Vietnam]]. He's trying to raise Ricky in his own image, which is meeting with limited success. He's also a flaming homophobe.
----
* AbusiveParents: Regularly beats up his son, [[spoiler:not to mention that he had had him committed to a mental institution for two years]].
* ArmoredClosetGay: [[spoiler:Frank is gay himself, but hides it behind an overtly-masculine self-image, confusing masculine behavior for an indicator of heterosexuality.]]
* BigBad: Is responsible for Ricky being as weird as he is, and [[spoiler:kills Lester]].
* DadTheVeteran: Ricky's father and fought in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.
* HiddenDepths: He might seem like a disciplined, no-nonsense military man but Frank has an unhappy marriage, an uneasy relationship with his son and serious issues of [[spoiler:self-loathing over his homosexuality.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: While his homophobia and self-loathing are problematic, he is right to make his son take drug tests as he still deals and uses drugs (Ricky gets around it through a deal with a friend for clean urine samples).
* KarmaHoudini: He goes unpunished for beating his son and more importantly for [[spoiler:murdering Lester]]. But only because the film ends before we see the aftermath and inevitable investigation/trial.
* KnightTemplar: His life as a marine seeps into every aspect of his life. He makes his son take drug tests on the regular.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: [[spoiler:Frank is homosexual himself, and has spent his entire life hating himself for it, hiding it, and over-compensating for it.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Barbara Fitts]]
!!Barbara Fitts
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AllisonJanney
[[quoteright:326:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_mvrll0y2lw1spk90oo2_500.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:326:"..."]]

The colonel's silent, disjointed wife. She doesn't get many scenes, but Janney uses even her character's silence to communicate that there are some severe repression problems going on here.
----
* BrokenBird: She's silent and meek, likely because she's [[spoiler:aware her husband is homosexual and she's been helping him live his lie.]] Or possibly because, although it's not shown, Frank is just as [[DomesticAbuse abusive]] toward her as he is toward their son.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** Apologizes "for the way things look around here" when Jane comes over to visit...and then we pan up to show the dining room she's sitting in, which is impeccably spotless.
** [[spoiler:When Frank kicks Ricky out and Ricky is about to leave to run away with Jane, he bids his mother goodbye.]] She responds with, "Wear a raincoat," which is...good advice.
* EmotionlessGirl: Though she does seem withdrawn and restrained, she does show she cares for Ricky.
* EmptyShell: Is in a vegetative state in all her scenes.
* TheQuietOne: She only has a handful of lines.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jim and Jim]]
!!Jim Berkley and Jim Olmeyer
->'''Played By:''' Creator/SamRobards & Creator/ScottBakula
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/999amb_scott_bakula_002.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Welcome to the neighbourhood."]]

A gay couple who are the Burnhams' next-door neighbors on the other side. Bakula has joked that these are the [[OnlySaneMan most normal]] people in the film — and the thing is, he's right. They help Lester develop his new work-out regimen.
----
* GoodIsBoring: Invoked with Jim and Jim. In reference to once seeing the most "bland and boring" heterosexual couple who wore the same clothes, writer Alan Ball said, "I can't wait for the time when a gay couple can be just as boring." The Jims were intentionally meant to be the happiest, and thus the least interesting, characters in the film.
* HappilyMarried: They're not actually married, but Jim and Jim are the only couple (and characters, for that matter) in the film who are truly ordinary, happy and healthy.
* SignificantNameOverlap: Both having the same name is a hint at them [[HappilyMarried being one with each other]].
* StraightGay: Both of them (surprisingly enough for a 90s movie couple). [[spoiler:Col. Fitts]], a raging homophobe who is [[spoiler:actually deeply closeted]], doesn't even realize they're gay at first.
* TrueLoveIsBoring: Intentionally done with Jim and Jim, a gay couple, and the film's only apparently happy and "normal" characters. In reference to once seeing the most "bland and boring" heterosexual couple who wore the same clothes, writer Alan Ball said, "I can't wait for the time when a gay couple can be just as boring.".
[[/folder]]
----