Actress Mena Suvari has revealed that she struggled with substance use and sexual abuse while she was first garnering fame in Hollywood by starring in several revolutionary teen movies that helped define the late 1990s and early 2000s. The SAG Award-winning performer admitted during an interview with People that “Between the ages of 12 and 20, I was the victim of repeated sexual abuse.”
While promoting her newly released memoir, The Great Peace, the American Pie alum noted that when she was 13, she was raped by “KJ,” a friend of her older brother. “Part of me died that day,” Suvari admitted. “He used me, had fun with me and then disposed of me. He called me a whore. I never got to have a healthy expression of [sex]. My choice was lost. And that, compiled with already not feeling seen and heard, established a concept that I would have of myself. That was my value.”
Two years later, when she was 15, the actress’ manager coerced her into a sexual relationship, even though the age of consent in California at that time was 18. The Rage: Carrie 2 star complied with the relationship because she felt that she didn’t have a choice, due to her unstable home life at the time.
In an effort to cope with the sexual abuse she endured, Suvari, who’s now 42, turned to substance use.
“I turned to any form of self-medicating I could find, just to get by. I was just trying to survive,” she also told People.
The actress’ sexual abuse culminated with her interaction with Kevin Spacey on the set of their acclaimed black comedy-drama, American Beauty, which also helped make her a household name. She recalled during the interview with People how the actor, who won his second Academy Award for his performance as Lester Burnham in the 1999 film, initiated an unusual experience with her on the set.
In the movie Suvari played high school cheerleader Angela Hayes, who’s lusted after by Lester. She said that while they prepared to shoot an intimate scene on the set, she trusted Spacey. However, she admitted that one experience they had together left her feeling strange.
“To prepare for a scene one day, he brought [me] into a side room where [we] laid on the bed very close to one another,” Suvari explained. “He was sort of gently holding me. It was very peaceful but weird and unusual.” She added that when other actors began claiming in 2017 that Spacey had sexually abused them, beginning with Rent star Anthony Rapp, “I thought of that day.”
In The Great Peace, the actress added that she was “living a double life” while she was shooting American Beauty. “Every time I would go on a set.
Every time I was interviewed, I was acting the whole time. It was another role for me to play.
That I was okay,” she also told People.
Suvari is sharing her story because she hopes that other victims of sexual abuse may find solace in their own life after they hear what she went through. “This is my truth,” she said. “I hope I can help someone else see their value. If I can lessen the pain for someone else, then I want to do it, because I didn’t have that person.”