Shannon Elizabeth Explains Why She Initially Told Her Friends To Not Watch ‘American Pie’

Shannon Elizabeth hasn’t been in many movies lately, especially compared to the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it’s not because she hasn’t been busy. She played in the World Series of Poker, founded a non-profit animal rescue organization, and helped launch the One Woman’s Legacy Scholarship, “a program for African women to further their careers through postgraduate studies.” Elizabeth has lived quite the life, one that she recently discussed on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast.

One topic that came up was her non-specific European accent as Nadia in the American Pie movies. “When I did American Pie, they called me in to do ADR,” she said. “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’ I had worked really hard with a dialect coach on this.”

Elizabeth told her friends that the 1999 sex comedy was going to “suck” because “they messed with my accent so much… I was like, ‘No, they’re ruining it. Don’t watch it.’ I was devastated after ADR.” The actress was only paid “couple thousand” dollars for her role (probably less than Blink-182), but she demanded more for the sequels. “I guess I had a number in my head I felt like they should pay and I got them to that number,” she said.

You can listen to the podcast below.