Christina Hendricks Says That's Her Hand on the 'American Beauty' Poster

Getty Images; DreamWorks

In bizarre movie trivia news, Christina Hendricks, star of “Mad Men,” “Toy Story 4” and apparently iconic movie posters, says that is in fact her hand on the iconic poster for “American Beauty.”

Wait, what? You know the one. The poster for Best Picture winner “American Beauty” is an image of a svelte, nude stomach with a hand reaching across and holding a rose. And late Thursday, Hendricks – 20 years after the fact – claims in an Instagram post we’ve been looking at her hand on the poster this whole time.

“Fun fact…. wait for it…I used to be a model and sometimes a hand model,” Hendricks said. “This is my hand and another model’s stomach….proud to be a part if this film in ANY WAY!!!”

Also Read: 'Egg' Film Review: Christina Hendricks and Alysia Reiner Carry Prickly Pregnancy Comedy

Just to be clear, Christina Hendricks does not actually star in “American Beauty,” which hits its 20th anniversary next month. Sam Mendes’s classic of American suburban malaise and comic-tragedy starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney and Chris Cooper would’ve come out when Hendricks was in her mid-20s.

Even a handful of celebrities expressed their astonishment at the news. Elle Fanning commented on Hendricks’s post in all caps, “I’M SHOOK!” Busy Phillips spoke for us all and gave a double take, “Wait…what?” January Jones asked, “How come I didn’t know this?” And Rachel Leigh Cook demanded to know, “What else are you hiding from us??”

Our thoughts exactly Rachel Leigh Cook! How many other movie posters have hidden celebrity appendages? Next Hendricks will tell us that’s also her hand on the poster for “E.T.“

You can see her hand for yourself in her Instagram post below:

View this post on Instagram

Fun fact…. wait for it…I used to be a model and sometimes a hand model…. this is my hand and another model’s stomach….proud to be a part if this film in ANY WAY!!! #americanbeauty

A post shared by Christina Hendricks (@actuallychristinahendricks) on Aug 22, 2019 at 5:01pm PDT

'Neighbors 2' and the Stare-Down Movie Poster Cliche (Photos)

With "Captain America: Civil War" and "Neighbors 2" coming out within two weeks of each other, it's likely you've seen the posters for these two films alongside each other and noticed something about them...
...they look almost identical. Both posters feature their main characters staring each other down in an effort to tease a big conflict ahead.
Marvel
They're not even the first two blockbusters this year to use this in their posters. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" showed the two titular superheroes in a staring contest on its poster as well. Cliches are common in movie posters, and now the Stare-down Cliché is the one that's in vogue.
Warner Bros.
The last time the Stare-down Cliché created an iconic movie image was in 2011 with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," with Harry and Voldemort locking gazes as their final showdown loomed.
Warner Bros.
A few months after "Deathly Hallows" came out, Ralph Fiennes was included in another staredown poster. This time the film was his directorial debut: an adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus."
The Weinstein Company
Put the light source beneath the subjects in the staredown, and you have a horror movie poster ready to go, like the one for "Freddy vs. Jason."
New Line Cinema
Or you could use that same lighting for an action film like Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes' "Demolition Man."
Warner Bros.
Action movies with big one-on-one feuds are perfect for the Stare-down Cliché, especially if, like "Demolition Man" they feature two big-name action stars. For another example, here's Jet Li and Jason Statham in "War."
Lionsgate
Is someone getting caught in the middle of this conflict? Put him in the middle of the stare-down, as was done for the poster for "A Bronx Tale" to symbolize the clashing influences a father and a mob boss have on an impressionable Italian-American kid.
Savoy Pictures
"Neighbors 2" is far from the first comedy to use the staredown. Seth Rogen and Zac Efron are joining a poster legacy that includes Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway in "Bride Wars"...
20th Century Fox
...Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller in "Little Fockers"...
Universal
...and Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler in "Anger Management."
Columbia Pictures
Just how far back does the cliché go? Here's a poster from the 1983 Chuck Norris/David Carradine flick "Lone Wolf McQuade."
MGM
There will undoubtedly be many more movies in the future that crank out staredown posters to sell themselves, but there will never be one more clever than the series made for "The Men Who Stare at Goats."
Overture Films

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Spring 2016 has seen three blockbusters sell their movies with a picture of a staring contest

With "Captain America: Civil War" and "Neighbors 2" coming out within two weeks of each other, it's likely you've seen the posters for these two films alongside each other and noticed something about them...

View In Gallery

'Neighbors 2' and the Stare-Down Movie Poster Cliche (Photos)

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