For many people, Kevin Spacey’s defining role before House of Cards was Lester Burnham, the sad sack husband at the center of 1999’s American Beauty. Spacey says middle-aged viewers identified with Lester, but kids did, too — because when he rebels, he acts like a teenager. “He was being very disruptive, he was pushing the boundaries and going different places and trying new things,” Spacey says. “We all have that in ourselves, to be a little disruptive.”

Listen to more of his conversation with Kurt Andersen on Studio 360 this weekend.www.studio360.org