Mena Suvari says her 'explosive' early blockbuster success had her thinking 'every movie made $100 million'

Suvari starred in 1999 hits "American Pie" and "American Beauty."

Mena Suvari's earliest films were huge.

"I honestly thought every movie made a hundred million dollars," Suvari said on Tuesday's episode of the Dinner's on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast. "And I had people saying 'Congratulations! This is amazing.' And I just was like, 'Thank you.' I didn't understand all of that."

Ferguson noted that Suvari had a "very explosive early beginning of your career," which is very true. Suvari had only done TV shows and a handful of films when, in 1999, she was in both American Pie, an R-rated teen comedy that earned more than $235 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, and spawned several sequels, and American Beauty. The latter, which costarred Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey, made more than $356 million globally and won that's year's award for best picture.

When Ferguson asked how she dealt with so much, so fast, Suvari recalled that it was "just weird."

"I remember having times where I was trying to, like, have a conversation with somebody who's not in the business. I was like, 'I'll never be anonymous anymore,'" she explained.

Suvari, who turned 20 in 1999, questioned what that meant.

"It can really mess with you. It can really mess with a person's head," Suvari said. "It's hard to kind of navigate that. Because no matter what, you'll always have a certain expectation stacked up against you."

Related: Mena Suvari says she couldn't 'fully enjoy' American Pie experience because of a 'toxic' relationship

It was "strange" for Suvari, as someone who "sort of fell into this industry," she said. She "had to kind of grow up quickly," and "learn about the business," she said. "It was really challenging."

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The actress went on to long-term, more modest success making guest appearances on TV shows such as American Horror Story, Six Feet Under, and Chicago Fire.

Her new film, Ick, a retro sci-fi and horror satire, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. Suvari plays Staci, the now grown-up childhood sweetheart of Brandon Routh's Hank, who's fighting an alien who's invaded their town.

Suvari is also an author and wrote about her life in her 2021 book, The Great Peace: A Memoir.

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