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Mena, named for an Egyptian godmother (her last name, Suvari, is the name of an Estonian river), began as a model with Wilhelmina. After lying about her age (she was 12, but claimed she was 13), Mena signed with the agency and worked as a model for the following 5 years.
While modeling, she balanced her education by attending high school and finally receiving her high school degree. She moved to Los Angeles with her parents after she got a job in an ad for Rice-A-Roni.
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Before hitting it big in Hollywood, Mena appeared in several hit television shows. She had two separate roles in Boy Meets World in 1995 and 1996, and appeared in the hospital dramas ER and Chicago Hope. Mena played a teen infected with HIV on Chicago Hope, a portrayal that highly impressed critics.
Next up for Suvari: the movies. Although the title of her first film in 1997, Nowhere (also starring Denise Richards), is exactly where the role got her... nowhere. Mena's next role won her much critical praise. Playing the object of a serial killer's affection in the 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls, which starred Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman, Mena was on her way to becoming one of today's most promising young actresses.
For those who didn't catch her appearance in Kiss the Girls, Mena's memorable performance as the best friend of the title character in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), made audience members notice.
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While the NBC made-for-TV movie Atomic Train (1999) -- in which Mena played Rob Lowe's daughter -- was a bomb, she portrayed virginal choir girl Heather in 1999's sleeper hit, American Pie. The movie that made teenage audiences flock to the movies and howl with laughter, also brought actresses such as Tara Reid and Shannon Elizabeth into the spotlight.
From innocent high school girl Heather, to wild child temptress Angela in American Beauty (1999), Mena proved how broad her acting abilities really are. In the Oscar winning and critically acclaimed film, Mena is the object of her best friend's father's (played by Kevin Spacey) obsession and rose-petaled sex fantasies.
She might not have been nominated for an Oscar, but she did receive a Best Supporting Actress nomination by the British version of the Oscars, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Also the object of an older man's affection in real life, Mena married 38-year-old cinematographer Robert Brinkmann in March 2000. Interestingly enough, the age difference between her parents is 24 years.
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After being thrust into the spotlight, Mena appeared on a slew of magazine covers, including Cosmopolitan and Vanity Fair. She also kept busy by starring in more movies. In 2000, she starred in another American-titled movie, American Virgin, and Loser, co-starring American Pie co-star Jason Biggs. The two even starred in the video for the movie's hit song "Teenage Dirtbag," by Wheatus.
In 2001, Mena put another three movies under her belt: Sugar and Spice, American Pie 2, and The Musketeer.
2002 had Mena being directed by Nicolas Cage in the movie Sonny. That same year, she starred alongside Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo and Mickey Rourke in Spun, a movie about the drug speed.
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In 2004, while Mena decided to take on television in the HBO hit series Six Feet Under, that hasn't stopped her from starring in a host of movies including Trauma, Standing Still, Beauty Shop with Queen Latifah and Alicia Silverstone, Closing The Ring, and Living and Breathing, co-starring Angelica Huston and Lisa Kudrow.