Mena Suvari is persuasive as a young woman working hard to seem sure of herself. We rate the vulnerability she brings to those roles, and the willingness to look less appealing in her darker independent work.
Fi1m perspective
Angela Hayes wants to look sure of herself, and Mena Suvari makes that effort visible in American Beauty (1999). As the young woman made the object of middle-aged desire, she could easily be reduced to what someone else sees in her. Suvari gives her insecurity as well as sexual confidence, enough to make the character worth watching for her own sake. We felt for Angela because Suvari makes that confidence seem like something she needs to maintain, rather than something she can rely on.
Sam Mendes's film is worth seeing for its performances, with Annette Bening especially good. Alan Ball's screenplay is less rewarding, treating familiar complaints about middle-class life as discoveries. That limits what we would claim for the film, but it does not cancel out the care Suvari brings to Angela. Her contribution is a useful reminder to watch the actors even when the script seems pleased with something we have heard before.
The other half of her 1999 breakthrough was Heather in American Pie, a part she returned to in American Pie 2 (2001) and American Reunion (2012). Those returns kept her attached to teen comedy long after the first success. We are more interested in the choices that worked against that early image. Cookie in Jonas Åkerlund's Spun (2002) offered a rougher setting and physical transformation. It was a useful move for an actor whose appearance had too often determined the parts on offer.
Stuck (2007), with Suvari leading as Brandi, makes that departure more pointed through a morally troubling, physically demanding part. The recurring role of Edie in Six Feet Under (2004) also belongs to a career built increasingly around independent films and television ensembles. Not all of that material has served her well; some of the later projects fall back on formula. After American Beauty, we would try Stuck before returning to Heather.
Biography
Mena Suvari is an American actress. Born in Newport, Rhode Island, she began modelling at the age of twelve and later moved into acting with guest television appearances before her film debut in the 1997 drama Nowhere.
She rose to prominence with her role as Angela Hayes in American Beauty (1999), for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and as Heather in American Pie (1999). Subsequent credits include American Pie 2 (2001), a recurring role as Edie in the HBO series Six Feet Under (2001–2005), and appearances in American Horror Story (2011) and Chicago Fire (2012).
