Mena Suvari
Many actresses have one scene for which they will always be remembered. For Mena Suvari, it’s the dream sequence in which she is lying on a bed with red roses surrounding her in the movie American Beauty (1999). The stunning image made an impact even before the Oscar winning movie was released.
Named after an Egyptian goddess, Mena Adrienne Suvari was born on February 9, 1979 in Newport, Rhode Island. Her parents Ando, a psychiatrist, and Candice, a nurse, realized that Suvari had star potential and got her involved in modeling at a young age. At 13 she began working in television commercials. When she was 17 her parents moved the family to Los Angeles so Suvari could pursue acting full time.
She quickly found guest starring roles on the television shows Boy Meets World, ER and Chicago Hope. In 1997 Suvari was cast in her first film Kiss The Girls with Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. The following year she starred in the critically acclaimed film The Slums of Beverly Hills. Her real success came in 1999 with two very successful roles in two very successful films American Beauty and the teen comedy, American Pie. In American Pie Suvari played Heather, the girlfriend of Chris Klein’s character.
Following her film success in 1999, Mena Suvari took on a new role, wife. In 2000 she married cinematographer Robert Brinkmann, who is 16 years her senior. The two split and filed for divorce in 2005, citing irreconcilable differences. In October 2005 she began dating Mike Carrasco, a professional break dancer and member of the professional dance troupe, Knuckle Head Zoo.
Professionally, Mena Suvari became a sought after actress and made films such as American Virgin (2000), Looser (2000) with Jason Biggs, American Pie 2 (2001), The Musketeer (2001), and Standing Still (2004) with James Van Der Beek. With the exception of the American Pie sequel, none of the films did well.
In 2004 Mena Suvari turned her attention toward television and took a recurring role on the acclaimed HBO television show Six Feet Under. The following year she starred in the mildly successful comedy movies Beauty Shop with Queen Latifah and Alicia Silverstone, and Rumor Has It with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner.
Her career back on track, in 2006 Suvari filmed six movies. They included Orpheus, Brooklyn Rules with Freddie Prinze Jr. Caffeine with Breckin Meyer, Factory Girl with Guy Pearce and Hayden Christensen, The Dog Problem, and Dangerous Parking. Suvari is also starred in 2007’s Day of the Dead. Suvari and boyfriend Sestito became engaged in July of 2008 during a vacation to Jamaica. |
