Shannon Elizabeth

"To me, playing a character who was that in control of her sexuality, who was that comfortable with herself, was the challenge -- to pull that off and not sit there looking scared to death, like I felt inside that I was." -Shannon Elizabeth, on her role in American Pie.

biography

Shannon Elizabeth Fadal was born on September 7, 1973, in Houston, Texas. Her exotic look can be attributed to the fact that her father is part Syrian and Lebanese, while her mother is of English, French and Cherokee Indian descent. Shannon's parents decided to move to Waco, Texas when Shannon was a young child.

Claiming to not be part of the popular group in what she described as a cliquey high school, Shannon was involved in many after-school activities. Part of the student council executive, Shannon was active in volleyball and cheerleading (which probably came easy to her thanks to her tap and ballet lessons as a child). Her biggest interest during high school, however, was tennis, which she considered doing professionally.

shannon elizabeth becomes a model

Shannon's life took an unexpected twist in her senior year when she starred in a video that a local band was shooting. The producer thought that Shannon had what it takes to become a model, and convinced her and her parents to go to New York to get some photos done.

Once Shannon graduated from high school in 1991, she moved to New York, where a modeling agency was waiting for her to graduate and begin her modeling career. While doing some modeling work in New York (where she lived in the NYU dorms), Shannon also worked in countries such as France, Japan, Hong Kong, and Italy.

Although working abroad was an excellent experience, Shannon admits to having been homesick. When she returned to the U.S., she spent a few months in South Beach, Miami before moving to Los Angeles. Ready to pursue an acting career, she hesitated about going to L.A. immediately, recognizing the amount of competition among young budding actresses. When she finally did go to L.A., Shannon signed with the Ford Modeling Agency, figuring that getting some of her pictures done would help her get into acting. She later signed with Elite Model Management.

It didn't take long for Shannon to get her first commercial -- for Taco Bell -- and she decided to stay in L.A. and join an acting class. Soon after, the roles came in: she appeared in the television series Pacific Blue, Step by Step and USA High.

shannon in american pie

In 1997, Shannon had a role in the film Jack Frost (where she appeared nude), and two made-for-TV movies, Blade Squad (1998) and Dying to Live (1999), soon followed. But it was her role in 1999's summer hit American Pie, as Nadia, a Czech foreign exchange student who bares it all, that launched Shannon's fame and career.

shannon elizabeth in scary movie

In 2000, Shannon appeared in the teen horror spoof Scary Movie, as well as in Evicted and Dish Dogs. The following year, she reprised her role as sexy Nadia in American Pie 2, and also appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Tomcats and Thir13en Ghosts. Since then, she has had a slew of smaller roles, like in Love Actually (2003) and Cursed (2004). In 2005, she will be appearing in The Kid & I and starring in the made-for-TV movie, Confessions of an American Bride.

Shannon is now separated from her husband, Joseph D. Reitman, to whom she had been married since June 2002. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her dogs, going to the gym and practicing yoga and Krav Maga (the Israeli hand-to-hand combat system). A huge fan of Garth Brooks and Prodigy, her favorite actors include Michelle Pfeiffer and Gary Oldman.

shannon elizabeth poses

Shannon was also a cover girl for Maxim, Play..boy and Details, and she was Enrique Iglesias' love interest in the video for his song, "Be With You."