I went to school with her in like 7th grade. She was so much fun. We had a fun time. She wrote in my yearbook "keep this, someday I'll be famous." Glad shes doing better.

"A part of me died that day." God, I can't believe since the age of 12 she's felt that way. I'm glad she is opening up.

This reporter has a way with her. Kind, listening, non-judgmental. Wow, she really has a heart! Beautiful to see one woman cover another with such grace!

People wondering why they say "lost their virginity against their will" instead of rape. It is actually very difficult to use that word when you've been through it.

It took me years to realize that once you are assaulted, sometimes afterwards, you give in during situations and do things that you didn't want to do, because you don't want to have that fear of saying no, and that not being respected... fear that you lose a fight, avoiding dealing with that panic inside. Instead, giving in and trying to convince yourself the entire time that it is ok. I look back and cringe. I desperately never want my kids to ever feel that way.

Protect children, protect the aging, protect all.

I worked with her on a movie and she was brilliant. She really knew the entire script, ensured continuity between each scene, called out the director if he made a mistake on continuity, was so professional, kind to crew and background, literally sounded so intelligent and a master of acting. Was a memorable job to work on to see her behind the scene.

Mena is so brave! This proves you never really know what someone else did going through. Everyone thought Mena had it all in the 90s!

She’s a survivor. A beautiful woman with a beautiful soul. God bless her.

Good for her. I'm seeing so many women turn 40 and absolutely blossom. It's an amazing thing to watch. 💝

I used to idolize her back in the day, I used to think she so so beautiful. I wished I could be in her shoes. Now hearing this... it’s absolutely heartbreaking. Just goes to show, what you see on the outside with people isn’t always what it seems.

There were two actresses that sort of went MIA at the height of their careers. One was Mena. You never saw her in too many roles; or at least in anything big. Maybe this is why. The other was Mira Sorvino, who was blacklisted by Harvey Weinstein because she resisted his sexual advances. Both are amazing actresses.

"It doesn't have to be like this". Wow. I really liked her as an actress. Glad she stopped using that poison.

"A part of me died" - this I have noticed over and over in survivors of sexual assault - the damage is lifelong.

I wondered where she went... 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 I’m glad she’s alive and in a much better place, on top of sharing to help others!!! 👏🏽👏🏽

She was not only gorgeous in the films she was in, but also charismatic and just excellent. I always liked her very much ❤

I've always thought she has the prettiest eyes. Sending love, Mena.

I always thought I should've been an actress, that it was like the dream profession, not anymore! The number of people in the entertainment industry who have their souls destroyed for a shot at making it big is incredible, the fact that all of this is coming to light is very positive not only for the ones who went through it, it helps to realize that stardom is a product that has been paraded out to the world with a shiny package but reality is you putting yourself in a very vulnerable unsafe position.

Whoever abused her at 12 should be prosecuted.

The thing is everyone has a sad story, trails, struggles it is simply a part of life. I think the real issue for everyone is no one talks about it. We hold it in and try to appear "normal". We feed to so many that perfection is normal and that is a lie. Everyone going through the ups and downs of life is normal. Sometimes we need help and are unable to process trails on our own and that is normal. We need to stop normalizing perfection because people are literally destroying themselves to achieve it.

I love her! She seems so engaged in the interview, makes me want to hear more

As a victim of sexual assaults, I can relate so much, I’ve always found it hard to explain but Mena has explained it perfectly. Thank you, you are so brave for speaking out 🙏🏻

This is the kind of woman that all little girls should aspire to become, a woman of substance who through trials and difficulties has found her beautiful, true authentic self. Best wishes Mena.

I've loved her since American Beauty & she ages so gracefully.

Sex which is one of the most beautiful creation ever made became so vicious, so evil, so dark. What’s supposed to bring pleasure brings pain instead. Too many sexual abuse. It’s a world disease. Another pandemic.

I am so happy she’s doing much better , I love her acting , her eyes and smile. ♥️♥️♥️

Thank you so much Mena, sleeping on the floor for years was where I was, squalor, the hopelessness. God saved me

"Lost your virginity against your will?" That is a tortured way to not say rape.

She is incredible. Her story brought me to tears. I am thankful to her for sharing her story and for giving a voice to many that feel completely silenced.

She is an amazing woman and I have so much love and respect for her. Her story is a powerful one!

The fact that she's still alive today shows she's a very strong woman. I wish her the best.

As a fellow survivor of sexual assault at 23 by a stranger at a New Year’s Eve party, I’m so proud of her for opening up deep wounds for others to know that they’re not alone. When she said a part of her died that day, wow, yes, that is a very accurate way to describe the devastation of being sexually assaulted and learning who the new you is.

It's heartbreaking to know that while she was giving us happiness through her films, she was suffering deeply. I always admired her, and still do, maybe now more so. Now that she's happier, I'd love to see her back on the screen.

so proud of her for speaking out and finding happiness and hope. she’s a beautiful soul 🥰

The phrase “taken advantage of…” is commonly called ‘exploitation’ by the legal system.

you can see her breathing pattern change when the interview brings up her trauma at age 12. 😭💔😭

Ppl don't realize that beauties get so bullied and get a lot of hate and abuse too

Always loved her, didn’t know she went through all of this. I’m glad she is ok now.

She is such a great actress, hope to see her on screen again

you really never know people's story and what they are facing. I'm so glad that she is in a better space and place in her life. Congrats on her marriage and little bundle of joy:-). I pray her all the best on her continual healing and thriving in life. Keep soaring and keep God first. God's love and blessings!!!

This clip was confusing. It needed more context.

Dear whoever is reading this, I wish there was a way for everyone to surpass the current obstacles or sadness/ stress and let happiness enter your heart! i truly sense and know you will have a beautiful life ahead of you! Nothing in life is ever easy, but what's important is that YOU keep going! Youre worthy of love and happiness, never allow anyone to tell you otherwise! I wish all of you plenty of health and strength during these tough times. You are loved, you are strong, you got this! Never forget that! Sending much Love over from Germany 💕🙏✨

“Whether or not you’re entitled to consider as such.” That’s exactly how so felt at 12 when it happened to me.

Such a beauty. I’m glad she’s okay now.

You just never know what a person is going thru silently. No matter what their outside everyday looks like. Thanks for sharing.

I'm so proud of her for speaking out ... I pray that helps her heal from this ..

Thank you Mena. It's inspiring seeing people overcoming sexual abuse. I'm slowly putting the shattered pieces back together & finding my way.

She’s incredibly lucky, i acknowledge her pain.

I would go see any movie she’s in. She’s a wonderful actress.

Mena is incredibly brave for coming forward with her struggles. It makes me feel less alone in mine.

These comments made me so sad. There are so many victims sharing their stories, it's insane how common that is. I was 14 when it happened to me. I wish this would stop. Thank you for everyone that opened up and shared their stories, you matter and we hear you.

It’s often one sentence from a friend that can “wake us up” to hope. Please tell your friends they don’t deserve to live with pain and they can reclaim their lives. Thank you for this.

Good on her! 👏 No longer surprised when I discover the hidden abuse of vulnerable children and young adults in the entertainment industry 😔 The more awareness thd better.

Very candid interview. Thank you, Mina. Perhaps your story will help others.

Mena's transparency is inspirational. So happy for her. It's a journey.

That's true. It happened to me at a very young age. I felt like I had no right to say no after that. I found myself in compromising situations I had no reason or right to be in. This interview is touching on so many levels. You never know what another person went through or is going through!

Awww she's so beautiful and Soo sad everything she went thru

I can’t believe some people can hurt another person to this point..

She is so amazing for coming out and telling her story! Not only is she helping others by sharing her story, she's also helping to erase the societal stigmas that come with addiction and mental illness. 💛💛💛

Thank you for going public about such painful abuse it is so incredibly brave you have helped make such a huge impact! Very thankful

I've been missing her. Haven't seen her in anything for years. Now I know why.

She's very authentic. She's not an overdramatic attention seeker. You can tell that her talking about it is simply therapeutic for her.

Her acting in the American Pie movies were top notch. We love you Mena!😃

Glad she’s sharing her story. She will be an inspiration to other young survivors

The video I didn’t know that I needed. Thank you Mena for being so brave and sharing your story🙏🏾❤️

Always liked her- how heartbreaking the things she's been through.

Thankful for her speaking up she is going to help so many and heal herself along her journey!

I worked with her on a movie set many years ago and she was so kind and welcoming to me. I didn't even know who she was at the time, but I made a mistake and the director kind of yelled at me - she rushed over and said, "don't worry about it! We all did that once! Just do it like this and you'll be fine. You'll get it!" I was so grateful. Then at lunch (again, no idea who she was), I saw her sitting with the other stars and just wandered up like "hey, y'all, can I sit here?" She didn't even bat an eye - just said, "Sure!" Later I found out she was a pretty big deal and I realized how sweet she really had been to me.

I admired Mena Suvari and her acting career despite of what she has been going through her life.

So happy to hear that she is doing better now!! Beautiful in and out!! 💕

I'm the same age as her. I remember her from those iconic movies. Happy to see she made positive changes!! I too suffered from substance abuse for years but I'm sober now and getting better. One very important thing that most people don't realize is that nobody choose/wishes to be a user. I (and I think her too) didn't do this for fun but to escape the overwhelming pain of my reality. Drugs and alcohol seem at first to take the edge off but before you know it they got a firm hold on you and it's more than difficult to free yourself from them. Learn from her and let her inspire you!!!👍❤🌷

Bless her brave heart for sharing her painful story. It's ground breaking & life changing for others who've had similar experiences. She's helping so many people by being so brave & open. There is life beyond such deep pain & trauma. ❤

Sad that she didn’t have a close friend she could confide in & share this with. I’ve always been blessed with a few close friends that have helped me get through some pretty terrible things. And then later I found group therapy which also helped ( my mom was an abusive narcissistic alcoholic) so yeah. My heart goes out to her. Hope she is able to heal & become happy & lead a healthy life. ❤️

I’ve always liked Mena Suvari and didn’t see her much more on-screen after American Beauty. Maybe this explajns why. Happy to see she’s in a better place and has love/support now. Side note: Watching this footage, I feel like I’m looking at a younger Beverley D’Angelo.

I applaud her for being so brave and telling her story…it’s so heart breaking

what a great interviewer. It felt calm and respectful and so empathetic.

Love her soo much more! We do recover! Recover Loudly so others don’t have to suffer in silence!

Always loved her felt a similar personal connection always will. Beautiful artistic soul ❤

✊✊✊ I'm glad she still here, stay strong and sharing her life with us.

I just have to say I loved her as black dahlia in ahs , hope she’s doing well 💗

I was just thinking about her a few days ago! I wondered what happened to Mena Suvari! This is wonderful to hear and to know that she’s doing so much better and now has a family.

The worldwide human rights laws really have to improve and all governments have to be forced to apply them, not in 50 years, now. It always happens right in front of us, right under our noses. But how, if even UN soldiers/employees go around the world r*ping vulnerable girls in places where they're supposed to help and then refusing to pay any child support for their child on top of that.

What a beautiful, protective, and brave momma! Way to go, Woman! Hoping her sharing her strength now can empower young people currently dealing with this in struggle or in crisis. I volunteer for suicide prevention. There are so many more young people facing this and since the pandemic than ever before. Her hard work with this book is much needed. I’ll share the resource. Thank her for doing it, please, on their behalf for me. Very much obliged.

Wow Mena. This story brought me to tears this morning. Thank you for such honest vulnerability and fortitude.

I wonder who abused her. They should be in prison. She is demonstrating so much strength. I hope she only gets stronger

Her, fergie and Jodi Sweden are the only ones over the years who have talked about meth

"part of me died that day" that hit me because after all these years I still feel the same.

She's such a brave hero! Her pain is so beautiful and triumphant!

I need a 3 hr interview with her. I need more.

Mena, you speak up for so many girls and women and help so many, believe me you're not alone with this, so many can relate completely. I hope and it's true, all these monsters should die from being so ashamed about coercing, exploiting and manipulating girls and young women, it's the most cowardish and shameful thing cowardmen (and women) can do.

Omg will she ever age?!?! Gosh she is even more beautiful than I remember! Wow thanks for sharing your journey Mena! It will help so many people know that they're not alone in that particular suffering. And omg your husband is total eye candy and omg a BABY?!?!? Congratulations on this new journey and they better put you back on the screen!

Poor girl hope she’s doing better now ❤

these male predators must be eradicated. sickening. You survived sweet soul and achieved

God bless her and her beautiful baby 🥰 so so glad she is clean and better and has an amazing family now she deserves it !!!🙌🙌🙌🙌

I LOVE this woman's work and wisdom.

She´s such a beautiful person inside and out. I´m so glad she´s speaking out about this

I read the comments and I have to say what is wrong with all of you people that are dissin the actress like that. It’s been reports dating back 1930s of sexual abuse durning production Hollywood has pervert simple as that and shaming any victim of sexual assault or abuse makes you no better than the abuser that sexually assaulted their victim

If anyone truly knew the sacrifices one has to make to be in the business (or at best 'try'), you'd have a different kind of empathy for stories like this. As in, having MORE empathy.

I cried when I saw this. It resonates so strongly with me. I need to read her book as a lot of stuff Mena went through happened to me. Ok I’m spinning out here as I love her movies and her as a person knowing this even more. I live in Australia and born here by migrant parents from Greece back in the 60s. Born in 72 I’m now 51yo. Seeing this is again a trigger for people like myself as it has topics that happened to me and still battling with. Mena is right about it as it never ever leaves you. I have anxiety panic attacks and have become a reclusive person as when I go out to grocery shopping medical apts I encounter triggers. Even where I live near a nature reserve there are 4 homes between mine and the reserve which has a creek and opposite is a Muslim school it’s pretty big on a big plot. Everyday the recess bell and the loudspeaker talk is a trigger. Seeing small kids with family at a grocery store is a trigger. I tend to go late at night or when I run out 2-3 weeks I won’t leave my house. I live in fear and the fear is a drug relapse of meth. I’ve battled it since mid 20s. I have untreated childhood trauma. Ontop I have CRPS and a spinal disability. And it’s like fml every other day. When I was under 10yo I was sexually abused by my grandmother my Dads Mom. I have held all of it in for 40 years. I’ve done drugs and alcohol since mid high school and for the last 25 years it’s been a battle with meth. I also have an opiod addiction that is a script for my chronic pain. Meth use slowly became more use in my reclusive state and even this day I still use it as a coping mechanism. What meth did about a decade ago is slowly unlock unravel the truth about the childhood abuse. I confronted my folks and my dad laughed it off and said that’s how grandma showed her affection! I was gobsmacked! My mum was the opposite and she told me back then in the 70s her sister in law actually caught her doing it to her youngest son. Now it’s caused a chasm a void between my myself and my Dad. There is no closeness. There really wasn’t growing up finding my sexuality as gay was so freakin hard I wanted to commit suicide so many times. I was so alone and my support network was beginning to turn on me and shun me. When I came out in 96 my dad blamed my mum saying see what type of son you raised! 😢wt AF! My mum was balling her eyes out. My grandma used to restrict my movement by holding my arms and sexually molested me. She would also lock me in a closet which now I have developed growing up claustrophobia. I feel like I’m not worth my family support and they never ever want to talk about anything and brush things off. I get scripts for Valium and think sometimes ending my pain with 50 tabs in a nice warm bath. I’ve done it before when I had a housemate and I was dragged out of the water my head half submerged. He saved me coz he knocked on the bathroom door and when I didn’t answer he broke it down as I locked it. There’s so much more that happened that is so detailed it makes me cry to even think about it all. basically police another suicide attempt court dramas meeting drug dealers houses sex parties out of control Shiz ppl got bashed i think sometimes looking back is this a film? wtf all these things happening to myself. Last 8 years I was almost forced into a mental ward saw psychiatrist anti depressants anti psychotics drinking alcohol with meds I was taking 9 diff meds a day was on Suboxone and OD three times saw a Psychologist too my life was spiralling down and all this time meth was prevalent. Still Is and I want rehab but it’s hard to get into and private is so exxy. Mena is right in many things and I resonate with it. When I was 12yo I was suicidal wanted to shoot myself in the head. What happened in high school from 11-16yo 3 male married kids were my pedophiles plus one woman and the principal hushed it all up. The school no longer is there it got shut down and I think there was a pedo ring running out of it. I was an effeminate kid and got bullied daily. At camp something bad happened and I still have many flashbacks. there’s a lot more I was bashed by 3 males walking back home after school and they said you didn’t see anything you don’t say anything. I was stalked and almost kidnapped. They even poisoned my home my safe place. When my folks were away there was an older kid saying sexual stuff and showing me his erection and stuff. I kept seeing male pornography in the mailbox and accross the road a car parked with a teacher grinning at me. Have to leave it there as I don’t want to go further details about suicide when I was 11-16yo was the worst time. Now I need justice closure it’s heading to Supreme Court there’s more details but enough for now and I might get media attention. Mena is 100% right we need to speak up about it and talk more not be kept silent. That’s why I broke my silence of 40years. I’ve had enough of the weight it was was killing me slowly. 🙏🏼💗to you from Australia John

There's not enough outreach for those controlled by drugs. Nomatter what walk of life you come from, It can be destructive to the point of losing everything.