Mena Suvari may be best known for her role in the high school sex romp, American Pie, or the high school sexpot in American Beauty, but typecast her at your own risk. In recent years, Suvari’s been taking on bigger roles in a number of edgy independent features.

Her latest finds her teamed up with horror maestro Stuart Gordon. In Stuck, she plays Brandi, a caretaker at a rest home who spends her off-hours dropping E and partying with her boyfriend. After one such evening, Brandi is driving home when she hits Tom (Stephen Rea), a homeless man crossing the street. Brandi panics and rather than driving him to the hospital, hides her car in her garage, with Tom stuck in the windshield—for three days. We chatted with Mena earlier this week about the real-life incident the film was based on, what it was like working with Gordon, and her fascination with the criminal psyche…

When did you first hear about this project?

I was reading the script up the street from my agency. I felt like my jaw literally hit the floor so many times. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that someone could be in a situation like this, which just seems to get worse and worse. I guess that really appealed to me; I thought it was very interesting. And I ran into [my agent’s] office after I read it, saying I had to do this. I had worked with Stuart before, on Edmund, so I was hoping that relationship would help sneak me in, and that Stuart would be able to see me in this. At the time, I didn’t know it was based on a true story. I just couldn’t believe what I was reading. I just thought it was a really out-there story. Continue reading ‘‘Stuck’ Interview - FEARnet’