Mena Suvari Reveals Traumatising Past

CREDIT: David Needleman

Mena Suvari has revealed her traumatising past, explaining that she was raped at the age of 12.

The actress who is now 42-years-old, detailed her terrible past in her memoir The Great Peace: A Memoir.

She writes that she was raped by one of her older brother's friends at his home.

"Part of me died that day. He used me, had fun with me and then disposed of me. He called me a wh*re. 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 that was my value."

Mena moved to Los Angeles at the age of 15 in order to join the acting industry. Her manager at the time, someone she considered a friend, pushed for a sexual relationship. She writes that she didn't feel she had a choice to say no.

"By this time my family had pretty much fallen apart. My mother had moved out and wanted to find herself and my father who was much older was in decline mentally and physically. I didn't feel like I had any other options or was worthy of a life that was any different."

CREDIT: Matt Winkelmeyer

Mena then turned to drugs trying to block out her personal life.

"I turned to any form of self-medicating I could find, just to get by. I was just trying to survive. 

In 1999, when she was 19-years-old, her acting career started to take off. She earned her roles in American Pie and American Beauty. She earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress in American Beauty.

One year later she married Robert Brinkmann. Robert was 17 years her elder and they got divorced in 2005.

She then married concert promoter Simone Sestito in 2010. Just over a year later they split up and were divorced in 2012.

She married her third husband Mike Hope in 2018, and the two welcomed their first child in April.

She is set to play a role in the upcoming biographical historical drama about former U.S President Ronald Reagan.

She has stated she chose to open up about her past in the hope it helps others.

"This is my truth. This is my voice. I was so tired of fighting and hiding my whole life. 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."

CREDIT: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images