Shannon Elizabeth
She might follow the route of many young actresses
who are forever stuck in B-movie mode, but Shannon
has the extra smarts you need to succeed. She has
already refused some high profile roles that called
for her to take it all off, in order to get away from the
perception that she's a teenage movies T & A
quotient. A major retooling can only help her go even
higher. It worked for Alanis Morissette who went
from teenage pop singer to socially conscious
songwriter.
BIOGRAPHY:
I wouldn't call him a slave. I don't whip him when he
does something wrong. Just when he does
something good.
-Shannon Elizabeth says laughingly, about living
with her boyfriend.
Shannon Elizabeth Fabal was born on September 7,
1976, in Houston, Texas. Her exotic look can be
attributed to the fact that her father is part Syrian
and Lebanese, while her mother is of English,
French and Cherokee Indian decent. Shannon's
parents decided to move to Waco, Texas when
Shannon was a young child.
Claiming to not be part of the popular group in what
she described as a cliquey high school, Shannon
was very much involved in most after school
activities. Part of the student council executive,
Shannon was active in volleyball and cheerleading
(which probably came easy to her thanks to her tap
and ballet lessons as a child). Her biggest interest
during high school, however, was tennis, which she
considered doing professionally.
Her life took an unexpected twist in Shannon's
senior year when she starred in video that a local
band was shooting. The producer thought that
Shannon had what it took to become a model, and
convinced her and her parents to go to New York to
get some photos done.
Once Shannon graduated from high school in 1991,
she moved to New York where a modeling agency
was waiting for Shannon to graduate and begin her
modeling career. While doing some modeling work
in New York (where she lived in the NYU dorms),
Shannon also worked in countries such as France,
Japan, Hong Kong, and Milan.
Although working abroad was an excellent
experience, Shannon admits to having been
homesick. When she returned to the U.S., she
spent a few months in South Beach, Miami before
moving to Los Angeles. Ready to start her pursuit of
an acting career, she hesitated going to L.A.
immediately, recognizing the amount of competition
among young budding actresses. When she finally
did go to L.A., Shannon signed with the Ford
Modeling Agency, figuring that getting some of her
pictures done would help her get into acting. She
later signed with Elite Model Management.
It didn't take long for Shannon to get her first
commercial -for Taco Bell - and she decided to stay
in L.A. and joined an acting class. Soon after, the
roles came in, both on television and film. She
appeared in the television series Hang Time, Pacific
Blue, My Generation, Step By Step, Blade Squad,
USA High and My Generation.
In 1997, Shannon had a role in the film Jack Frost
(where she appeared nude), as well as Dish Dogs
soon after. It was her role in last year's summer hit
American Pie as Czech foreign exchange student
Nadia, that launched Shannon's fame and career.
Shannon presently lives with her lucky boyfriend Joe
Reitman, along with her six dogs. In her free time,
she enjoys playing with her dogs, going to the gym
and doing yoga. A huge fan of Garth Brooks and
Prodigy, her favorite actors are Michelle Pfeiffer and
Gary Oldman. A recent cover girl for Maxim and
Details, Shannon is Enrique Iglesias' love interest in
the video for his song, "Be With You". She can soon
be seen in this summer's horror movie spoof, Scary
Movie, co-starring Carmen Electra. You can catch
Shannon later this year in the film Tom Cats, which
will certainly not be the last we'll see of Shannon.
What else do you need to know?