Mena Suvari

Suvari was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the daughter of Candice, a Greek American nurse, and Ando Süvari, an Estonian American psychiatrist. She has three older brothers. She began modeling as a preteen and soon after starred in a Rice-A-Roni commercial.

The family later relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where her three older brothers attended The Citadel. Meanwhile, Mena was entertaining dreams of becoming an archaeologist, astronaut or doctor, when a modeling agency stopped by her all-girls school, Ashley Hall, to offer classes. By the time she started acting, she had been modeling for the New York-based Wilhelmina agency for five years.