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Who is Mena Suvari's husband? Star claims abusive ex made her pick women for THREESOMES

'I was not being loved. I was just a body, a receptacle for his desires,' Mena opened up about her abusive ex
UPDATED JUL 28, 2022
Mena Suvari with her husband Michael Hope who she married after escaping from an abusive relationship (@mikehope__/Instagram and @menasuvari/Instagram)
Mena Suvari with her husband Michael Hope who she married after escaping from an abusive relationship (@mikehope__/Instagram and @menasuvari/Instagram)

In her 2021 memoir, 'The Great Peace', Mena Suvari opened up about surviving sexual abuse and drug addiction. The 43-year-old actress broke silence about her years of suffering from sexual abuse, revealing that she was raped at 12 by her brother's older friend.

The actress said the trauma helped her play sex-obsessed teen Angela Hayes in 1999's Oscar-winning film 'American Beauty' and revealed going home to an abusive relationship after filming. "I identified with Angela. I knew how to play that role because I was so schooled in it. 'Oh, you want me to be sexually attractive?' Done. I felt unavailable in a million other ways, but I knew how to play that card", she told The Guardian.

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Suvari claimed that she felt trapped with her ex, who was a lighting engineer, and in order to deal with it she would take drugs. Her harrowing account in her book reveals she was forced to use uncomfortable sex toys and perform rough anal sex. "I was not being loved. I was just a body, a receptacle for his desires," she writes.

She added that her abusive ex would ask her to pick up other women to have threesomes with, including those she met on set. Once she ran into a woman after she had become famous, in a Whole Foods store and felt mortified. Another time, she ran into one of the women, and approched her, "I said, 'I want you to know that I never wanted to do any of those things'. She was surprised. She 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," said Suvari.

The Cast of American Beauty pose backstage with their award for
The Cast of American Beauty pose backstage with their award for "Outstanding Performance by a cast in a Theatrical Motion Picture" at the 6th Annual SAG Awards in Beverly Hills, California, March 12, 2000. (Photo by Brenda Chase)

Talking about the threesomes, Suvari said, "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 sexual 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. It still weighs on me since I never got the opportunity to discover myself in that way sexually. All of that was lost for me."

Who is Mena Suvari's husband?

Since 2018, Suvari has been married to Hope, a prop master and decorator, she met on set in 2016. Hope who works in the film industry took over a variety of projects over the years, including 'Flower Shop Mysteries', 'Slasher, Cardinal', and 'Killjoys'. Suvari has a one-year-old son, Christopher, with Hope.



 

Hope has been a pillar of strength for his wife throughout their marriage. "The spark, connection, and love I felt with you told me right away that this was going to be something special. I will always love you with all of my heart. Thank you for everything you do for us, me, and yourself on a daily basis", he captioned an Instagram photo of them once. The two met back in 2016 on the set of 'Hallmark's I'll Be Home For Christmas', where she was acting and he was the set decorator at the time.



 

Suvari once told PEOPLE that Hope was the first person in her life she saw a family with. After meeting him back in 2016, Suvari said, “Through all the trauma, through all the struggle, through all the doubt, our little angel has chosen us. I will never have enough words to describe my love for this beautiful soul coming into our lives, but I won’t ever stop trying to give him the best life possible,” Suvari captioned a photo on Instagram of her and her baby bump back in 2021.

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