Mena Suvari
 Mena Suvari was born on February 9, 1979, in Newport, Rhode Island to Ando and Candice Suvari. Named after an aunt (whose name comes from the "House of Mena" hotel at the base of the Egyptian pyramids), she is the youngest of four chidren -- and the only daughter.
Her career began with a short stint as a model. By the time she was 13, she was already appearing in commercials. Mena's middle school years were spent in South Carolina, where she attended an all-girls school in Charleston. She moved to California and graduated from high school in Burbank.
 In 1995, Mena made her debut with a small role on the television show Boy Meets World and her film debut with a starring role in the Greg Araki film Nowhere. Bigger roles followed, including the hit thriller Kiss The Girls with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, the outrageous youth comedy American Pie and Loser, where she starred opposite Greg Kinnear and Jason Biggs.
 Her breakthrough role, however, came from her participation in 1999's multiple Academy Award-winning film American Beauty. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the British Academy Awards for her critically acclaimed performance and is fast becoming one of the busiest young actresses in Hollywood.
 Suvari was honored with two Movieline Awards for Breakthrough Performance for American Beauty and Best Ensemble cast for American Pie, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast for American Beauty. She also appears opposite Tim Roth, Stephen Rea, Catherine Deneuve, and Justin Chambers in the $60 million dollar feature DArtagnan, where she plays a young French girl in 1730s France.
 On March 18, 2000, Mena married cinematographer Robert Brinkmann and she considers painting watercolors, playing the piano and hiking among her favorite things to do.
|
|
