Ever since the very public dissolution of Jesse's marriage to Sandra Bullock first hit the news, fans have been clamouring to hear his side of the story. When he appeared on Nightline for his first interview after the scandal, the show saw huge overnight ratings, averaging more than 6 million total viewers. A staple on celebrity blogs and in the tabloids, Jesse's personal life remains the subject of endless speculation… .until now. American paints a portrait of a self-made man who has known his fair share of triumph and regret along his path to fame.
Born and raised in Long Beach, California, Jesse James was a teenage football star turned professional bodyguard who worked for many A-list rock bands, including Soundgarden, Danzig, and Slayer, and travelled the globe with them. After an injury sustained at a show, Jesse decided to set off on his own to pursue his childhood love: motorcycles. In 1992, Jesse began West Coast Choppers in a corner of a friend's garage. He built it from the ground up, transforming the tiny operation into a multi-million dollar business that caters to a host of celebrity clientele and has been the subject of Discovery Channel's hugely successful series Monster Garage and the documentaries Motorcycle Mania and Motorcycle Mania 2.