Mena Suvari dating history explored as 'American Beauty' star opens up on being manipulated by abusive ex

American actress Mena Suvari has opened up about experiencing s*xual abuse as a teen and how her ex-boyfriend used to "manipulate" her into having threesomes with other women.

In an interview with The Guardian published on July 27, the 43-year-old star revealed that she was 17 when she crossed paths with her ex, who was a lighting engineer.

Although she did not mention his name, Suvari said that he would allegedly s*xually and verbally abuse her, and ask her to find women for threesomes, even the ones she interacted with on set.

The American Beauty actress added that when she saw those women several years after that time, she told one of them:

"I want you to know that I never wanted to do any of those things."

However, Mena Suvari was shocked when the woman said:

"'Oh! He told me you wanted to do that.' It was a huge eye-opener for me, how I was being manipulated and I had no idea. The circumstances had been created for me, and I was just swallowed up by it."

---

Mena Suvari has been married thrice despite abusive past

Suvari, who shares a one-year-old son, Christopher, with her husband Michael Hope, shared that she felt trapped in the relationship with her abusive ex-boyfriend.

In the same interview, the American Pie actress stated that she once had to visit a hospital after experiencing rough anal s*x and had also been forced into using uncomfortable s*x toys.

Recalling her traumatic past, Mena Suvari revealed that going through s*xual abuse because of her toxic ex-boyfriend has affected her current equation with intimacy.

“I’ve never wanted to speak negatively about things that can be very healthy for other people. I was not given the choice or the permission to do it, and that’s what was so destructive for me. It’s a very messed up thing when you experience s*xual abuse, because part of it is like, satisfying. But then the other part is an absolute nightmare, so you’re confused, you don’t know what’s right.”

This is not the first time that Mena Suvari has opened up about experiencing s*xual trauma in the past. In 2021, while talking to People Magazine, the actress revealed that she was r*ped by her brother's friend at the age of 12.

“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 [s*x]. My choice was lost. And that, compiled with already not feeling seen and heard, established a concept that I would have of myself. That was my value.”

However, the actress left the toxic relationship and has been married thrice since then.

She first tied the knot with German-born cinematographer, Robert Brinkmann, whom she met on the set of Sugar & Spice in 2000. However, their marriage was short-lived and they got divorced in 2005.

Suvari then went on to date Italian-Canadian concert promoter Simone Sestito in 2007 and they married three years later in 2010, in Rome. But the Nowhere star filed for divorce in 2012, one year after exchanging their "I do's."

Mena Suvari then married set decorator Michael Hope in 2018. Together, they share a son who was born in 2021.