Mena Suvari's Real Name: Mena Suvari

Quick answer: The actress works under her own name, Mena Suvari. The Television Academy and Infoplease both say she was born in Newport, Rhode Island. Her exact birth date is reported differently: the Television Academy gives February 13, while Infoplease gives February 9, 1979. A Library of Congress record lists the birth name Mena Adrienne Suvari, but no second source here confirmed it.

Real name and early life

The Television Academy's biography lists her birthday as February 13 and her birthplace as Newport, Rhode Island. Infoplease gives "Born: 2/9/1979" and the same birthplace. The Library of Congress authority file carries both versions in separate notes, February 9 and February 13, 1979, and one note gives her birth name as Mena Adrienne Suvari. The day conflicts across sources.

Infoplease says she is the daughter of an Estonian psychiatrist and an American mother, and that she attended middle school in Charleston, South Carolina, while her three brothers attended the Citadel. It says she was signed by the Wilhelmina modeling agency at 12, made her first commercial at 13, and moved with her parents to the West Coast, where she found television roles on ER and Chicago Hope.

Career highlights

The Television Academy says she made her film debut in Gregg Araki's Nowhere (1997), followed in 1999 by American Pie and American Beauty. Both sources highlight American Beauty. The Academy says her role as Angela Hayes (spelled "Angeles" on its page) in the film directed by Sam Mendes earned her a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actress and a Screen Actors Guild ensemble award.

The Academy lists later films including Loser (2000), Spun (2002), Rumor Has It (2005), Domino (2005), Beauty Shop (2005), and Factory Girl (2006), plus the sequels American Pie 2 (2001) and American Reunion (2012). It also lists the independent films Becks, Don't Tell a Soul, and Grace and Grit.

On television, the Academy says she reteamed with American Beauty writer Alan Ball for an arc on HBO's Six Feet Under (2004), which brought a Screen Actors Guild nomination; Infoplease says she appeared in seven episodes. The Academy says she played the Black Dahlia on American Horror Story, appeared on Chicago Fire, and co-starred in Paramount Network's American Woman (2018). It lists a 2024 Emmy nomination for the short-form series RZR and her memoir, The Great Peace, published by Hachette Books in 2021.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Mena Suvari or Mena Adrienne Suvari are looking for the same actress. Her birth date is listed as February 13 or February 9, 1979, depending on the source, and she was born in Newport, Rhode Island.