1999’s American Pie was a sensation upon release, launching the careers–however quickly some fizzled out–of its core cast. The American Pie ensemble had several breakouts, but one who made her own impact on both the horny teen characters and wide-eyed male moviegoers was Shannon Elizabeth, who played foreign exchange student Nadia. But Elizabeth didn’t want anyone to see it at all.
Reflecting on her experience shooting American Pie, Shannon Elizabeth said Czech bombshell Nadia wasn’t nearly as fun to play as she was to watch. Yet it has nothing to do with baring it all on the world wide web (in the famous scene featured in the thorough documentary Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies), but rather post-production problems. “When I did American Pie, they called me in to do ADR [additional dialogue recording]. They were like, ‘We’re gonna play with the accent.’ So I’d say something and then they’d go, ‘Ok, do less of an accent.’ I was like, ‘Why are they messing with this accent so much?’” It was such a concern for Elizabeth that “I told all my friends, ‘This movie’s gonna suck’ ‘cause they messed with my accent so much! I was like, ‘No, they’re ruining it, don’t watch it.’ I was devastated after ADR. A lot of people did say my accent was terrible and I’m like, ‘Yeah, ‘cause they messed with it – they didn’t let me do what I wanted to do.’”
Fortunately, people did see American Pie–more than $100 million worth, making it one of the highest-grossing R-rated movies of the year. Through American Pie’s success, Shannon Elizabeth earned an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Female Breakthrough Performance and was cast in fare like Scary Movie, Tomcats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Elizabeth would reprise her role as Nadia in both American Pie 2 and American Reunion, the final movie in the original series.
Shannon Elizabeth had such a terrible time on American Pie’s post-production that she was reluctant to reprise her role for the sequel. She finally agreed after getting the payday she felt she deserved, also figuring it best to stay in the spotlight. “I guess I had a number in my head I felt like they should pay and I got them to that number. You get 15 minutes, so you gotta milk it.”
The American Pie franchise has a total of nine entries to date (including spin-off movies), with another in the works.
What did you think of Shannon Elizabeth’s performance in American Pie? Did the bad accent hurt the character? Let us know your take!