{"id":5391,"date":"2018-02-03T09:24:24","date_gmt":"2018-02-03T09:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/?p=5391"},"modified":"2018-11-03T09:34:48","modified_gmt":"2018-11-03T09:34:48","slug":"mena-suvari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/mena-suvari\/","title":{"rendered":"Mena Suvari"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Seeing what little stability exists in show business already, the term \u201cIndie Queen\u201d makes sense to Mena Suvari. Code word mostly for \u201cinvolved in smaller, eclectic projects\u201d, it was how the film industry and press felt to define her when she first found acclaim, before her 20th birthday even arrived. But the actress quickly, and wisely, saw the term as an extension of the game and nothing more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s done to everyone, but for me it didn\u2019t matter,\u201d Suvari explains to me this spring in Los Angeles, where she currently resides. \u201cIt was just really about projects as a whole and how I could challenge myself with a story or character. I never put any kind of boundaries on those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suvari\u00eds career of left turns is example of that mindset: her film debut in Gregg Araki\u2019s stylish black comedy\u00a0Nowhere<\/em>; a bank-robbing cheerleader in\u00a0Sugar and Spice<\/em>, a recent grisly stint as The Black Dahlia on\u00a0American Horror Story<\/em>. But then of course, there\u00eds the unavoidable, perfect one-two punch of suburbia and high school in 1999 that launched Suvari\u00eds career worldwide:\u00a0American Pie<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0American Beauty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The former gross-out teen comedy would mark Suvari\u2019s first studio experience\u2014as choirgirl Heather who would fall in and out of love with Chris Klein\u2019s\u00a0Oz<\/em>\u00a0over the four-film series\u2014but Suvari claims her role in Sam Mendes\u2019 directorial debut\u00a0American Beauty<\/em>\u00a0at age 19 proved a more seminal experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so green in the industry. I was just happy to have a job and to be working with such amazing people,\u201d she says about the Oscar-winning film, which saw her playing a high school Lolita to Kevin Spacey\u2019s isolated suburban dad, Lester Burnham. \u201cThey were so sweet and nurturing. But I didn\u2019t have this perspective of, \u2018Oh, this is going to be an award-winning film with massive box office.\u2019\u201dAt that age I honestly thought that every movie made $100 million. It was very simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simplicity and a fluid way of life has always appealed to Suvari, who was born in Newport, Rhode Island with three older brothers, hopped around the Virgin Islands and South Carolina shortly after, and came out to Los Angeles with her parents at 14 once her modeling career with Wilhelmina Talent Agency started gaining traction. That traction was, of all things, a Rice-a-Roni commercial, but that gig soon led to print work and guest spots on shows like\u00a0Boy Meets World<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0ER<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00ecIt was work, but at that point I was so used to kind of moving around,\u00ee she says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe, but I felt like there were moments in my life that were pushing me on this path.\u00ee<\/p>\n

She certainly encountered the more ruthless side of the business early on. Before she was signed, she came out to LA for a talent convention to learn the basics of modeling\u2014walking a runway, taking headshots, running auditions. I was walking down the runway, just practicing,\u201dshe recounts, \u201cAnd I remember a kid from my modeling school came and told me afterwards that another girl watched me and said, \u2018That girl shakes her ass too much. I\u2019m gonna wipe the floor with her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Pre-teen taunts aside, that style of surface-level negativity has only increased since in Suvari\u2019s opinion; the day that she and I meet, CNN is abuzz with reports of royal sweetheart Kate Middleton and an ill-timed wardrobe malfunction.<\/p>\n

Suvari\u2019s expression turns to frustration. \u201cWhy is this headline news?\u201d she exclaims. \u201cWe don\u2019t honor the things that people do, or any of their positive qualities or accomplishments. It\u2019s all about what you haven\u2019t done.\u201d Later, she outlines the type of defense she and fellow actors have taken against such actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re really given two options: you either crush under the pressure or you work really hard to maintain the right perspective and develop this thick skin. I\u2019ve seen that with people with whom I\u2019ve worked, they\u2019re just always guarded. You have your people around you because you trust them, and it\u2019s hard to live like that-being consciously aware of how someone could backstab you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n