Mena Suvari

Synopsis

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Mena Suvari is a successful American actress who is most popular for her significant roles in a 1999 films American Beauty and American Pie. Besides, she is also a fashion designer and model who worked for several modeling agencies and ads too. 

The actress has made appearances in numerous hit TV series, including Psych, The Cape, Lakewood Plaza Turbo, and South of Hell as well. She is currently in a relationship with Michael Hope, her boyfriend since 2016. 

Early Life And Education

Mena Suvari was born Mena Alexandra Süvari on February 13, 1979, in Newport, Rhode Island to Candice, a nurse, and Ando Süvari, a psychiatrist. She belongs to American nationality and ethnicity wise, she is of mixed descent as her mother is of Greek descent, while her father was Estonian.

The actress grew up in Rhode Island home along with her three older brothers; AJ, Sulev, and Yuri. She moved to Charleston, South Carolina along with her family and attended a nationwide modeling competition which landed her a contract with Wilhelmina Models for five years.  

In 1997, Suvari moved to California and graduated from Providence High School in Burbank.

Career

Mena Suvari started her professional acting career appearing as a guest in TV series Boy Meets World when she was 15. The following year, she made a guest appearance in medical drama television series ER.

Suvari appeared in many episodes of High School. She made film debut playing the role of Zeo in the 1997 independent coming-of-age drama Nowhere. She then appeared as a supporting character in a 1997 American neo-noir psychological thriller film Kiss the Girls.

In 1999, Suvari found major critical and mainstream recognition when she performed in the teen sex comedy movie American Pie and drama movie American Beauty. Both of them turned out to be commercial success grossing more than $235 million and $356.3 million at the international box office respectively. American Beauty also received the Academy Award for Best Picture. 

In 2001, she appeared in the adventure action movie The Musketeer and reprised her role in the sequel, American Pie 2 which collected $286 million worldwide, made under the budget of  $30 million.

Suvari portrayed Cookie opposite Brittany Murphy and John Leguizamo in the independent production Spun, in 2002. She subsequently made an appearance in Nicolas Cage's directorial debut a small-budget drama Sonny, sharing the screen alongside James Franco and Brenda Blethyn.

In 2004, she starred in the psychological thriller Trauma along with Colin Firth. The same year he portrayed a recurring lesbian character of Edie in the fourth season of the hit HBO serial Six Feet Under, in the same year.

In 2006, Suvari voiced the character of Aerith Gainsborough in the Disney video game Kingdom Hearts II. In 2008, she acted one of the leads in the horror zombie film Day of the Dead. The movie garnered negatives reviews and bombed commercially. The same year, Suvari portrayed Catherine Bourne in the second posthumously released novel of Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden. 

In 2010, she appeared in one-episode of Psych. She played the role of Heather for the second time in a 2012 ensemble sex comedy film American Reunion. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed a whopping box office collection of $235 million worldwide. She also appeared in the supernatural horror drama series South of Hell.

Net Worth And Height

According to TheRichest, Mena Suvari's net worth is estimated around $17 million, as of December 2012. As per CelebrityNetWorth, her net worth is $7 million. Her ex-husband Simone Sestito said that Suvari's estimated annual salary is about $750,000. He also asked her for $17,000 a month as spousal support.  

She listed her Glyndon Avenue home in Venice for $1.795 million, in 2008, however, the exact sold price of the house is till not public. Built on an area of 2,442-square-foot, it has three-bedroom. She owns Mercedez-Benz that worth is around $34,475.

She also modeled for fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue, which generally pays its professional models between the range of $48,295-$51,920. Therefore it can be surmised that the actress might be received the same amount of money from the agency.

Here's the list of her movies that collected a good sum at the international box office.

Charity And Other Work

Suvari is engaged to several charity projects and organizations, which mainly focus on breast cancer, the "End Violence Against Women" campaign, and tours high schools as a "Circle Of Friends" spokesperson, motivating teenagers to quit smoking. 

Personal Life

Mena Suvari is currently dating Michael Hope. The couple first met during the filming of a Hallmark movie I'll Be Home For Christmas in 2016 in Canada and began dating in the same year after few meetings.

The couple recently made an appearance at The Art Of Elysium's 11th Annual Celebration and premiere of television series American Woman. In July 2017, she and her boyfriend Hope enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Canada.

Suvari has been divorced twice. She married a German-born cinematographer, her first husband Robert Brinkmann, on March 4, 2000. The relationship between them couldn’t last long as she filed for a divorce from her husband in April 2005 citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce finalized in May 2005.

After a couple of years, Suvari was romantically involved with Simone Sestito. They first met at Toronto International Film Festival in 2007 and got engaged after a year while vacating in Jamaica. The pair exchanged vows in July 2010.

They organized their wedding ceremony at a private chapel in Rome. Sadly their relationship lasted for two years; she filed a divorce in 2012. The couple allegedly separated in November 2011, but their divorce finalized in October 2012.

She also dated Salvador Sanchez, and on February 2014, rumors flew about she getting engaged to her boyfriend after she posted a picture with her boyfriend, showing off a diamond ring. Many fans a s sumed, they were engaged which forced Suvari to address the rumors

Here is the video of Suvari talking about her recent movie Becks, in an interview with BUILD Series,