Mena Suvari extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Mena Suvari
Mena Suvari, May 2007
Born	Mena Adrienne Suvari February 13, 1979 (1979-02-13) (age 29) Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Occupation	actress, fashion designer
Awards won Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast - Motion Picture 1999 American Beauty

Mena Adrienne Suvari (born February 13, 1979) is an American actress, model, fashion designer and spokeswoman. She is best known for her supporting role in the Academy Award-winning film American Beauty (1999), as well as the successful comedy American Pie (1999) and its sequel American Pie 2 (2001).

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Fashion 1.4 Personal life 2 Filmography 2.1 Film 2.2 Television 2.3 Other 3 References 4 External links

Biography

Early life

Suvari was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the daughter of Candice, a Greek American nurse, and Ando Süvari, an Estonian-American psychiatrist.¹² She has three older brothers, one of them in the United States Army. By the age of twelve, Suvari was modeling; she starred in a Rice-A-Roni commercial by the age of thirteen. Attended Providence High School, in Burbank, California, class of 1997.

The family later relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where her three older brothers attended The Citadel. Meanwhile, Mena was entertaining dreams of becoming an archaeologist, astronaut or doctor, when a modeling agency stopped by her all-girls school, Ashley Hall, to offer classes. By the time she started acting, she had been modeling for the New York-based Wilhelmina agency for five years.

Career

Suvari made appearances in television shows such as Boy Meets World and ER at the age of fifteen and sixteen respectively. In 1999, she starred in the Oscar-winning American Beauty and the popular American Pie. Suvari was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, for her role in American Beauty.

She followed these movies with roles in such movies as Loser (2000), The Musketeer (2001), and Spun (2002). Suvari also became a recurring character in the fourth season of the critically acclaimed HBO serial Six Feet Under in 2004, as lesbian performance poet and artist, Edie. Suvari was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favorite Actress - Newcomer (Internet Only)" in 2000 for American Pie.

In 2006, Suvari performed the voice role of Aerith Gainsborough in the Square Enix/Disney video game Kingdom Hearts II and the English-language version of Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.

She has lead roles in the remake of the zombie movie Day of the Dead as well as Stuart Gordon's controversial film Stuck.

Fashion

Suvari is a model for Lancôme cosmetics and print ads for Lancôme Paris Adaptîve. She has been featured in fashion magazines such as Vogue.

Suvari has collaborated with Echo Design to launch a limited-edition three scarf collection. The project features her own nature-inspired photography, digitally screened on silk and silk chiffon as wearable art. The collection depicts trees in three stages of foliage from fall to winter; a portion of the proceeds from sales will go to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In June 2007, Suvari shaved her head for her lead role in the forthcoming movie adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's The Garden of Eden; photos appeared on the Internet rapidly.³

Personal life

Her first name came from an Egyptian godmother. Suvari married German-born cinematographer Robert Brinkmann on March 4, 2000.⁴ Brinkmann is about eighteen years older than her. On April 24, 2005, Suvari filed for legal separation, citing irreconcilable differences; the divorce was finalized in May 2005. In 2007, Suvari began dating Italian-Canadian concert promoter, Simone Sestito.^{citation needed}. Suvari and Sestito became engaged in July of 2008 during a vacation to Jamaica. ⁵

Suvari plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Starlight Children's Foundation.

She is also active in female empowerment issues. She is involved with several charities whose cause is breast cancer, the "End Violence Against Women" campaign, and tours high schools as a "Circle Of Friends" spokesperson, encouraging teenagers to quit smoking.^{citation needed}

Filmography

Film

• Kiss the Girls (1997) - Coty Pierce
• Snide and Prejudice (1997) - Geli Raubal
• Nowhere (1997) - Zoe
• Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) - Rachel Hoffman
• Atomic Train (1999) - Grace Seger
• American Pie (1999) - Heather
• The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) - Lisa Parker
• American Beauty (1999) - Angela Hayes
• Loser (2000) - Dora Diamond
• American Virgin (2000) - Katrina Bartalotti
• The Musketeer (2001) - Francesca Bonacieux
• American Pie 2 (2001) - Heather
• Sugar & Spice (2001) - Kansas Hill
• Sonny (2002) - Carol
• Spun (2002) - Cookie
• Trauma (2004) - Charlotte
• Standing Still (2004) - Lana
• Edmond (2005) - Prostitute
• Rumor Has It (2005) - Annie
• Domino (2005) - Kimmie
• Beauty Shop (2005) - Joanne
• Factory Girl (2006) - Richie Berlin
• Orpheus (2006) - Sue Ellen
• Caffeine (2006) - Vanessa
• The Dog Problem (2006)
• Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (2006) - Aerith Gainsborough (voice)
• Brooklyn Rules (2007) - Ellen
• Stuck (2007) - Brandi
• Day of the Dead (2008) - Sarah
• The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008) - Phlox Lombardi
• The Garden of Eden (2008) - Catherine Bourne

Television

• Death of a Cheerleader (1994) - High School Student
• Boy Meets World (1995) - Laura
• High Incident (1996-1997) - Jill Marsh
• ER (1996) - Laura-Lee Armitage
• Minor Adjustments (1996) - Emily
• Boy Meets World (1996) - Hilary
• 413 Hope St. (1997) - Crystal
• Chicago Hope (1997) - Ivy Moore
• Atomic Train (1999) - Grace Seger
• Saturday Night Live (2001) - Host
• Six Feet Under (2004) - Edie
• Law & Order: SVU (2004) (Season 5, Episode 17: Mean)
• Sex & Lies in Sin City (tv) (2008)- Sandy Murphy

Other

• TV commercial for Rice-A-Roni (1992).
• Appears with Jason Biggs in the "Teenage Dirtbag" music video by Wheatus. From the soundtrack of the movie Loser.
• Kingdom Hearts II video game (2006) - Aerith Gainsborough.
• "Orange Mobile Phone Advert" in which she appears as Joan of Arc. This clip is shown in some cinemas to advise the audience to switch mobile phones off.

References

External links

• Mena Suvari at the Internet Movie Database
• Mena Suvari at TV.com
• MenaSuvariFan.com, Mena Suvari fan site since 2003
• Mena Suvari Gets Stuck, Premiere.com

v • d • e American Pie series Original series American Pie • American Pie 2 • American Wedding Spin off series Band Camp • The Naked Mile • Beta House Actors Jason Biggs • Thomas Ian Nicholas • Chris Klein • Eddie Kaye Thomas • Seann William Scott • Alyson Hannigan • Shannon Elizabeth • Tara Reid • Mena Suvari • Natasha Lyonne • Eugene Levy • Jennifer Coolidge • Chris Owen