Shannon Elizabeth's memorable appearances as Nadia in the American Pie franchise shot
her to instant fame, but it's rare to see her in anything high-profile these days.
Here's why we don't hear much from her anymore.
When American Pie came out in 1999, it was a mildly scandalous cultural phenomenon, and
Shannon Elizabeth was a big part of that.
While she doesn't get busy with a pastry or discuss "that one time at band camp," she
does nearly go all the way with Jason Biggs' Jim in full view of his friends via webcam.
That makes for an auspicious breakthrough role, and it's one that's stuck to Elizabeth's
reputation in the decades since.
On the one hand, that's impressive, because Nadia is only on screen for about ten minutes.
But on the other hand, it's a one-note role that wasn't designed to show off much acting
talent, so it's not too surprising that it didn't lead to more challenging roles.
Elizabeth addressed her conflict over the strange staying power of the role in a July
2019 chat with Page Six, in which she said,
"I am honored by it.
But there's a part of my being that doesn't believe it.
You know, like, no that's not me ... I almost don't associate with it because, I don't know,
it's just so surreal to me.
To be remembered I think for anything and anything positive in that sense, I mean, I'm
blessed and grateful for it.
I really, really am."
"More, more, you bad boy!"
The late 90s and 2000s were a boom era for coarse teen comedies, thanks in large part
to the blockbuster success of American Pie.
In its wake came the likes of EuroTrip, Van Wilder, and Road Trip, just to name a few.
Just as the films of John Hughes are so beloved by kids growing up in the 80s, so too are
raunchy teen comedies a cultural touchstone for millennials.
However, these movies aren't exactly the wokest things ever filmed.
They usually revolve around guys trying to get girls in bed, and those girls often aren't
very well-defined characters.
Elizabeth was an integral part of American Pie, as her character served a central role
for the film's perhaps now outdated themes.
Unfortunately, that means she'll forever be associated with a certain kind of movie that
isn't really getting made anymore.
And she can certainly see the problem with her famous scene.
As she told Page Six,
"If this had come out after the #MeToo movement, there would definitely be a problem.
I think that it would have gone down differently."
It's not like Elizabeth stopped acting after American Pie.
In fact, she's appeared in more than two dozen films in the years since.
But a big problem is that the majority of them are low-budget, forgettable affairs.
Some of them are so obscure that they don't even have enough reviews to merit a score
on Rotten Tomatoes.
Unfortunately, many of Elizabeth's more high-profile films haven't fared too well either.
The likes of 13 Ghosts, Tomcats, and Johnson Family Vacation, for example, all have Tomatometer
scores under 20%.
Her most well-received flicks have been franchise entries, like the first Scary Movie and Jay
and Silent Bob Strike Back.
"It's not stealing a monkey, it's liberating it.
Wait a second.
Did you say no problem?"
Then there's her appearance in the perennial Christmas classic Love, Actually, which probably
brings her some nice royalty checks, but the role is thankless.
She plays a one-dimensional American woman who thinks a British guy is hot simply because
he has an accent.
Her character name is telling, as she's credited as "Harriet, The Sexy One."
Between 2015 and 2019, Shannon Elizabeth acted in just five projects, and one of them was
a short film.
Maybe it's possible that she's not cramming her schedule with gigs because her heart just
isn't in it anymore.
A look at her Instagram feed reveals that she spends a lot of time working on a cause
outside of acting that clearly means a lot to her: animal rights.
Back in 2001, Elizabeth started a Los Angeles-area animal rescue organization called Animal Avengers.
By 2014, it had extended far beyond saving stray cats and dogs and into The Shannon Elizabeth
Foundation, which promotes conservation and stands up to poachers in Africa.
In 2016, she even ditched the Hollywood life completely and relocated to Cape Town, South
Africa.
When she does make a red carpet appearance these days, it's more likely to be one outside
a charity event instead of a movie premiere.
"It's hard to find good, you know, good people that you trust and so when you find them,
you really want to support them and work with them."
Hollywood loves to put people in simple boxes and cast them in similar roles over and over
again.
In other words, "typecasting."
But what's an actor to do when she no longer fits within the parameters that once defined
her career?
After American Pie, Shannon Elizabeth was typecast as a young, bubbly, lusted-after
woman.
But Elizabeth turned 46 in 2019.
While she hasn't seemed to physically age too much, she has nevertheless aged out of
the kind of parts that made her famous.
Hollywood can be a notoriously challenging place for actresses over 40, and it's especially
hostile for the ones who mostly served as set decoration in bro movies.
Elizabeth probably isn't being courted by the film industry as much now that she's heading
into middle age.
But there's always an opportunity for a comeback, and Elizabeth does have a couple of projects
in the offing.
She reprised her role of Justice in 2019's Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, and she's signed
on to co-direct a movie about a trio of teen girls attempting to keep their virginity before
college.
That sounds a lot like a gender-flipped version of American Pie, so things may just come full
circle for Shannon Elizabeth.
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