Thirteen years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival, the dark drama American Beauty premiered. Garnering critical acclaim and numerous awards, it centered on a man having a mid-life crisis and an inappropriate infatuation with his daughter’s best friend. Last night, at this year’s TIFF, Canadian director Jason Reitman (Juno) turned this film into a live reading featuring an all-star cast. Held at the Ryerson Theatre, the actors each took a seat as they read the original 1999 award-winning screenplay written by Alan Ball. Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston starred as Lester Burnham, originally portrayed by Kevin Spacey. Playing his wife, Carolyn, was Mad Men ’s Christina Hendricks. The two leads were given thunderous applauds as they gave their take on the Burnham characters. Playing Angela Hayes, the teen object Lester lusts after, originally played by Mena Suvari, was Toronto native Sarah Gadon, most recently seen in Cosmopolis. Adam Driver of the HBO sitcom Girls took on the role of Ricky, played by Wes Bentley in the film. Canadian talk show host George Stroumboulopoulos had a smaller role in the read, playing Jim Olmeyer, one half of the happy gay couple who are neighbors to the Burnhams. Reitman has been organizing and narrating stage directions for a series of live-reads with A-list celebrities in Los Angeles since last October.
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americanbeauty, bryan cranston, Christina Hendricks, George Stroumboulopoulos, Jason Reitman, sarah gadon, tiff
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