Almost 10 years ago, Mena Suvari was the new "it" girl, having been part of the ensemble of American Pie and the controversial object of Kevin Spacey's Oscar-winning obsession in American Beauty. Instead of churning out easy romantic comedies, she delved into crazy, quirky movies, some big, some not. Now she plays a corn rowed ecstasy tweaker who hits a guy with her car and leaves him stuck in her windshield waiting for him to die.
Crave Online: What was your reaction when you first heard about this story?
Mena Suvari: I remember I was reading this script up the street from my agent at my agency. I felt like my jaw literally hit the floor so many times. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that somebody would be in a situation like this and it just seemed to get worse and worse and worse. I guess that really appealed to me. It was very interesting. And I ran into his office afterwards saying that I had to do this. I really, really wanted to do it. I had worked with Stuart before on a film called Edmond so I was hoping that relationship would help me sneak my way in and that he would be able to see me in doing something like this. At the time I didn’t know that it was based on a true story. I didn’t know that this had happened at all. I just couldn’t believe what I was reading. I thought that it was a really out there story. I was reading a book at the time called Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. Have you read this? I think it’s an awesome book. Not that many people know about it, but it’s fascinating to me. In the book she mentions this incident and then it was even more of a shock to me that this had happened. I guess I was even more on board. I had to be a part of it.
Crave Online: Had you ever seen any of Stuart’s earlier films like “Re-Animator” or “From Beyond”?
Mena Suvari: I hadn’t when I had worked with him. No.
Crave Online: Do you sympathize or have to justify your character, Brandi?
Mena Suvari: In real life the woman’s name was Chante Mallard and I believe that Chante and Brandi are inherently good people. I’ve always been really interested in psychology and criminal psychology in particular and what makes people do the things that they do. I feel like, number one, Brandi and Chante, they weren’t in the right mind set when this happened. I don’t feel that they set out to be put in this situation. Brandi doesn’t aim for the man that she hits. I think if she were given the choice she wouldn’t have wanted to go through any of it or be put in that situation. So that was what was so interesting to me, really dissecting what makes somebody snap and really go to that extreme. I feel that Brandi is somewhat ignorant about the system and she’s afraid. I think she is afraid to lose everything that she has worked so hard for which isn’t much, but she has her small little world and she has this job that she’s not so crazy about but I think there are a lot of people in a situation like that where she’s faced with possibly losing her own life. And what is that? That’s survival of the fittest. You know, primal instinct. Do we all have that within us that if we’re really put into that situation? What will we do to save ourselves? So that was really what was so interesting and fascinating to me. She ultimately snaps and just starts reacting. I think she loses all ability to have any consciousness of the situation and she has to justify it for herself. My favorite line in the movie is when she says “Why are you doing this to me?” I mean that’s just so sick and twisted to me the way that I look at it. But she has to do that because otherwise she wouldn’t be able to handle the situation.
Crave Online: Do you have any issues with the sight of blood, real or movie blood?
Mena Suvari: No. My parents worked in the medical field. My father was a psychiatrist and my mom worked as a nurse. I’ve always been really interested in science and biology and nanophysiology. I’m all for it. I’ve played with cadavers. I’ve done a lot, you know. It’s something that’s fascinating to me.
Crave Online: Did you do any research on the real people or their locations?
Mena Suvari: No, I wasn’t able to. It took place in Ft. Worth, Texas in 2001 and we shot in New Brunswick which is pretty far away from there. I basically educated myself about her and the story and the incident as much as I could. I didn’t get the opportunity to meet her. She’s serving 50 years to life.
Crave Online: Did she have hair like that?
Mena Suvari: No, no. I think it was really that we wanted to establish her as a particular kind of person living in a particular kind of neighborhood and the boyfriend that she has. We assumed that it would be like Providence, Rhode Island, like a mix of cultures, and just kind of where she comes from and her background. I don’t want to be me. I don’t want it to be like, “I’m blonde and it’s Mena Suvari.”
Crave Online: Have you made a conscious effort to stay away from the sort of "beauty" roles?
Mena Suvari: I have people that come up to me a lot and say, “You’re so much prettier in person.” I feel like they’re trying to compliment me, like they’re being nice, but it is weird to me because I feel like I’m acting. That’s not supposed to be me. I don’t want to be like the celebrity or whatever. I remember I worked on this project called Sugar and Spice in 1999, years and years ago, and my character had to get sick, like I had to throw up or something. The director came up to me and she asked me how I would prefer to be shot: basically the makeup or how I’d want to look. It was the most confusing conversation because I felt like I’m supposed to be sick. I shouldn’t be all made up and perfect. I’m all for that. To me, I feel that that’s real. I enjoyed the way that Denis Maloney, our cinematographer, shot it, and the way that Stuart doesn’t have those concerns. That’s not a major concern of his. That’s liberating for me. That’s exciting. I’ve worked on things like that. I did a film called Day of the Dead with Steve Miner and my character is in the Army and I was in fatigues for the whole movie and it was awesome. I didn’t have to worry about anything like hair, makeup or costume. You can really deal with the material. I don’t want to have to worry about how I look. That’s not my goal. I don’t want to be like pretty, perfect, or whatever. If that’s what it calls for, great, but if it doesn’t, I don’t need to look that way and I don’t understand sometimes why that’s so shocking. Or maybe I looked like I had a few more pounds on or I had a particular hairdo or whatever. That’s just should be for the character.
Crave Online: How challenging was it to play opposite Stephen Rea in some of those scenes in the garage where’s he’s stuck in the car’s windshield?
Mena Suvari: It was very intense. I remember saying to Stuart once, I got really frustrated because it was a particular kind of filmmaking. You didn’t really have time. There was like one camera and he’s like, “Okay! Go!” Like one or two takes and I said, "I can’t go from 0 to 90 in one second." But I was trying to use that. I was just trying to use the intensity and what’s available to me to draw from because it’s very, very intense. It’s the emotional experience. It was like losing my mind. I hadn’t really gone to that before and I just had to go for it.
Crave Online: What was it like to fight the naked girl with a frying pan?
Mena Suvari: She was awesome. She’s so amazing. She actually worked as Halle Berry’s stuntwoman for years. She was great. Talk about just fearless and full throttle. She was encouraging me to just go for it. I’d be interested in wanting to do something and then I felt like I’d hold back a little bit and she’d go, “No, just hit me. Just do this. Grab me here.” I was like, “Okay!” So it was exciting. I’d never been in a fight before so I just kind of had to go for it. I appreciated that. I think ultimately that’s what I would want because as an actor, that’s freeing. You don’t want to have too many limitations on things. Sometimes it’s like, “Okay. Now you want to do exactly this.” And it’ll take away from the performance. Yeah, I’m sure Stuart was just like, “Look at them go!” The cat fight, you know.
Crave Online: So there’s no chance you could have taken her in real life?
Mena Suvari: Wow, I don’t know about that now that I’ve learned the moves. I was like, “The frying pan? Really?” She was great.
Crave Online: What is your biggest fear?
Mena Suvari: My biggest fear? Oh God, I try not to think about it too much with these kinds of questions. I’m not sure. I think I’ve really worked towards not being afraid. That’s why I’ve pushed myself and challenged myself especially in the material that I’ve done. I’m not sure. That’s a good question. I have a phobia of the ocean sometimes, what’s underneath anyway.
Crave Online: What else do you have coming up?
Mena Suvari: I did a film last year called Garden of Eden that should be coming out later this year. It’s based on a Hemingway novel. It’s a great book by the way. And then I’m about to start a project called Sex and Lies in Sin City. It’s based on a book by Jeff German called Murder in Sin City. It’s about the Ted Binion murder in 1998. Ted Binion was the son of Benny Binion who owned the Horseshoe Club Casino and Ted was a heroin addict. He was found dead in his home. I play his girlfriend, Sandy. She was convicted of his murder in 2000. It’s a comedy. [laughs] It’s a family movie. It’s for Lifetime. I’m really excited about it. It’s a really interesting story. With this and that movie, I’m a little concerned that somebody may come after me like I’m addressing too many things that are real dangerous. Sandy was acquitted so…
Crave Online: What else can you tell us about Day of the Dead?
Mena Suvari: Apparently it’s gone to DVD now. Frown…
Crave Online: It’s not even going to be released?
Mena Suvari: I don’t know. There’s a lot of behind the scenes that they don’t tell me about. Steve Miner is a great director. He was involved in creating Friday the 13th and that guy is just awesome.
Crave Online: How close is it to the original?
Mena Suvari: It’s very different. It’s like when they did the Dawn of the Dead remake, but it was great. For me, it was a lot of fun. I played a Corporal in the Army and I did all my own stunts. It was like two and a half months in Bulgaria. It was intense, carrying guns and shooting. It was fun.
Crave Online: Did you watch certain zombie films or were you told to watch certain ones for getting ready for the part?
Mena Suvari: I did watch the originals like Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Actually I really liked the remake of Dawn of the Dead. I thought it was really awesome, all the effects. I was reading one that they’re going to do soon. It played more on the Bodies exhibit. It was more like that. That was cool.
Crave Online: Are you a fan of the zombies that walk or run?
Mena Suvari: That run, that run and fly and jump and bite into jugulars. Yeah, back in the day. Now you watch them and you’re like, “Come on!” You’ve got to love the girl that’s running and she trips. You’re like “Get up!” It’s always like that. So I guess when the zombies can pose more of a threat than a challenge, then yeah, it’s more realistic.
