SHANNON ELIZABETH is a name that will be familiar to a very particular generation of teenagers growing up in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
To most, she is best remembered as Nadia, the foreign exchange student and love interest of Jason Biggs’ Jim Levenstein in the first two American Pie movies.
It’s a role that hasn’t aged particularly well, while the comedic setup involving her character looked a little ill-advised in today’s climate.
Thankfully, Elizabeth was able to break out of that role and flex her comedy chops in Scary Movie and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Her proclivity for the funny stuff is hardly a surprise though – after all, Elizabeth is of Irish ancestry through her mother’s side of the family, so it makes sense that she would be adept at the funny stuff.
The years that followed Elizabeth’s breakout turn in American Pie saw her career take a different route, with the Texas-born actress appearing in shows like That 70s Show and Punk’d alongside then-husband Joseph D. Reitman, whom she married in 2002.
Her voice and likeness even featured in the 2004 video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, which was technically Pierce Brosnan’s last outing as the world’s most famous secret agent, giving her yet more credo with the Emerald Isle.
Now divorced, Elizabeth appeared on Dancing With The Stars in 2008, where she became romantically involved with Cheryl Cole’s ex Derek Hough and even starred in the music video for Chris Brown hit Next to You.
Despite a cameo in 2012’s American Reunion and sporadic film and television roles in the years following these days Elizabeth has focused more on her endeavours away from the camera.
An animal activist, she co-founded Animal Avengers in 2006 with the express aim of rescuing and finding new homes for homeless pets as well as promoting responsible care and raising awareness of animal cruelty.
She also fronted a campaign, from Farm Sanctuary, encouraging people to adopt a turkey, instead of eating one, at Thanksgiving.
More recently she has used her sizeable social media presence to campaign against rhino poaching.
The 45-year-old is also an avid poker player, competing against some of the best players in the US in Las Vegas on a regular basis, and at the annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
An environmentalist and vegan, Elizabeth knows that, to some people at least, she will always be Nadia.
“Yes, I still get called Nadia but it’s amazing and I’m honoured to be part of a movie that has become so iconic for so many people,” she said in the behind-the-scenes interview for American Reunion.
“To be a character that everybody remembers and it makes you feel that there is at least one thing out there that people will remember after you are gone and that is a good feeling.”
