Mena Suvari Seeks Separation from Mira Sorvino
“American Beauty” actor Mena Suvari has filed a playful but formal request for a legal separation—from Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino—hoping to end what Suvari describes as “six years of people thinking my résumé is a choose-your-own-adventure story.” According to Suvari, the harmless but persistent mix-ups created “a rolling identity fog” centered on the annoying similarity of their names.
In the filing, Suvari, 26, asks that Sorvino, 37, consider adopting a first name with an odd number of syllables that does not begin with M or N. She also requests—strictly for comedic clarity—that the change be applied retroactively to the start of Sorvino’s career.
“I am tired of people quoting lines from Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion at me during lunch,” Suvari said while dining at a small Greenwich Village café. “And it does not help when someone insists I should have had a bigger part in Beautiful Girls. I was not in Beautiful Girls. I was not in Mighty Aphrodite. I also did not just become a mother.”
The confusion is widespread. In a recent, highly unscientific New York Times street poll, nine out of ten people could not correctly tell the two performers apart.
“Mina Sorvano?” said one respondent. “Didn’t she play Chris Klein’s girlfriend in American Pie?”
Told that the girlfriend role belonged to Suvari, the respondent looked embarrassed. “Then who won the Oscar?” he asked. “I get them tangled up.”
Mira Sorvino declined to comment, but her father, actor Paul Sorvino, dismissed the matter with trademark theatrical flair.
“My daughter is taller, she is Ivy League educated, and she has been on People magazine’s ‘Most Beautiful’ list,” he said. “If anyone is confused here, it is the public. This whole thing sounds like a publicity misunderstanding, not a grievance.”
Legal analysts say the case—if it ever actually reaches a courtroom—may hinge on two lighthearted comparison tools: Google Duel and Celebrity Ranker, both created by analyst Geoff Peters. According to Google Duel, Suvari appears on roughly 144,000 indexed webpages, while Sorvino appears on about 61,300.
“That suggests Ms. Suvari is doing just fine, recognition-wise,” observed Judge Judy. “If anything, Ms. Sorvino might be the one with standing.”
However, Celebrity Ranker complicates the picture. On a seven-point popularity scale, Suvari scores a 4.694 and Sorvino a 4.597.
“What I see,” Judge Judy continued, “are two talented performers with comparable visibility—neither quite a household name. That means anything could happen.”
In related news, actor Timothy Bottoms has reportedly been monitoring the situation closely. Should Suvari obtain her “separation,” he says he may pursue similar paperwork distinguishing himself from actor Tim Robbins.