Mena Alexandra Suvari Bio

Mena Alexandra Suvari was Suvari was a Rhode Island native, born to Candice Thompson, a nurse, as well as Ando Suvari (a psychiatrist). The father of her was Estonian and her mother is from Greek, Norwegian, and German descent. Mena was raised in a Rhode Island home that was constructed in 1870. She was aspired to be an archaeologist before moving to Charleston, SC where she went to a nationwide modeling competition , which led to her being awarded an employment contract with Wilhelmina Models. Then, she relocated to Los Angeles as part of their children's theatre division WeeWillys. This was where her acting career started. Her film debut came working with director Gregg Araki in the cult-classic Nowhere (1997) that was soon followed up by the blockbuster American Pie (1999), where she performed her own vocals, and the five-time Oscar-winning American Beauty (1999) directed by Sam Mendes, in which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award as Best Supporting Actress. People Weekly magazine called her "All-American Girl" (1999) and Entertainment Weekly magazine named her the most patriotic performer in 2000. She was a part-time actress in the blockbuster franchise , and was added to American Pie 2 (2001), and more than 10 years after that, American Reunion (2012) to this list. Amy Heckerling's romantic comedy Loser (1999) saw her reconnect with Jason Biggs. She then showed her versatility when she acted alongside John Leguizamo in Jonas Akerlund’s iconic cult classic Spun (2002) as well as Jennifer Aniston in Rob Reiner’s Rumor Has It (2006) and Tony Scott's Domino (2005).