Shannon Elizabeth reveals why she left Hollywood fame for life in South Africa

After Shannon Elizabeth shot to fame in “American Pie” and set pulses racing, she did not stick with the Hollywood script — she headed to South Africa.

The actress, who performed the sultry alternate scholar Nadia in the 1999 hit, packed her luggage on the finish of 2016 and by no means regarded again. In 2018, she launched her conservation charity, the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation.

“When I first went on the market, and I got here again, I used to be dwelling in New York on the time,” the 52-year-old instructed Fox News Digital.

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“And I remember this moment of standing at a crosswalk,” she stated. “Everybody’s looking down at their phones, or they’re on their phones. The crosswalk changes, and everybody just starts rushing each way. Nobody’s paying attention except to whatever is in their hand at that moment.”

“I just had this feeling come over me of feeling like I had just been to Africa, and the problems there felt so real — and they are real,” she recalled.

Shannon Elizabeth attends the annual charity day hosted by Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC and GFI on the BGC workplace in New York City on Sept. 11, 2019. (Mike McGregor/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald)

“It’s a war that’s happening with wildlife, and people are in need there. And it just felt like my phone and the work I was doing here just weren’t as important at the time. I just felt like I needed to be closer to the issues. I needed to go over there and try to figure out what I could do, that I wasn’t making a difference here. That’s when I decided I’m going to move.”

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Elizabeth has at all times had a ardour for serving to animals in want. After “American Pie,” she launched a canine and cat rescue, Animal Avengers, in 2001. For greater than 10 years, the Houston, Texasnative ran that group in Los Angeles. But the urge to do extra by no means left her.

“I knew I wanted to do more and do something on a bigger scale or help more animals,” she stated. “And eventually, all roads were leading me to South Africa.”

Shannon Elizabeth attends the nineteenth Annual Savannah Film Festival together with her canine Peanut in Savannah, Georgia, on Oct. 26, 2016. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

In 2015, Elizabeth realized about an ivory and rhino horn crush in New York City, a high-profile effort to destroy unlawful animal merchandise and ship a message towards poaching. She was intrigued.

Shannon Elizabeth instructed a blind rhino she’s offering help for impressed her to launch a sanctuary. (Ganesha Productions, Inc & Shannon Elizabeth Foundation)

There, the star met a number of conservationists from South Africa. Soon after, she discovered herself touring abroad, immersing herself in the problems affecting the nation and its endangered species.

“I just wanted to understand what I could do to help,” she stated. “I love the US, but I also love exploring. I love other countries. I love other cultures and learning. And I think for a long time, I was immersed here. I knew what it was like here, and I just wanted a change. I just wanted something different and to feel like I was doing something more important than just working on myself.”

Shannon Elizabeth and Jason Biggs seem in a scene from the favored comedy “American Pie.” (Moviestore Collection)

After connecting with conservationists in South Africa, Elizabeth stated they’ve helped perform rhino horn trimmings, a course of used to make the animals much less of a goal for poachers. The work did not finish there.

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Shannon Elizabeth has at all times been captivated with serving to susceptible wildlife in want. (Ganesha Productions, Inc & Shannon Elizabeth Foundation)

“We’ve put a girl through her doctorate,” Elizabeth shared. “It was her doctorate to be an ornithologist, so she works with birds. We’ve paid salaries, especially through COVID, to a lot of different rangers and anti-poaching teamsbought food for anti-poaching dogs.”

“We were doing quite a bit, and then a blind black rhino found us that needed help,” she beamed. “He was our inspiration to build a sanctuary. So, we’ve been taking care of him for the past few years. We’re now looking to expand that.

Shannon Elizabeth at the 33rd Annual EMA Awards Gala held at Sunset Las Palmas Studios on Jan. 27, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

“We have some LOIs (letters of intent) with native companions of what is wanted in the realm that we’re in. And so, we are attempting to broaden now to be an orphanage and rehabilitation heart and have some holding bomas (protected holding areas) to have the ability to transfer animals to different areas of Africa for vary enlargement and genetic expansions.”

Shannon Elizabeth told Fox News Digital she has zero regrets about her big move. (Ganesha Productions, Inc & Shannon Elizabeth Foundation)

There’s plenty that Elizabeth misses about her life in the US Still, she has zero regrets about making the leap to help vulnerable wildlife in South Africa.

“I completely love New York, and I adore it when I’m right here,” she said. “There’s one thing actually magical about New York. The individuals, the meals, the power — I miss that. And there’s part of me that misses having the ability to get something you need, everytime you need.”

Shannon Elizabeth attends the annual charity day hosted By Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC and GFI on Sept. 11, 2019, in New York City. (Lars Niki/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald)

“I believe lots of people, once they hear that I’m dwelling in South Africa, they think about you are dwelling in the bush,” she laughed. “Even although our sanctuary is in the bush, my base camp is in Cape Town. It’s lovely. But I believe lots of people solely think about Africa with lions strolling round on each highway you go.”

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From left: Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott and Shannon Elizabeth pose together in a group photo following the premiere of “American Pie.” (Toni Anne Barson/WireImage/Getty Images)

Following the success of “American Pie,” Elizabeth appeared in popular comedies in the early 2000s, together with “Scary Movie,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Love Actually,” among others.

But it was “American Pie,” which followed a group of high school friends determined to lose their virginity before graduation, which skyrocketed her to fame. The comedy starred Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy, among others.

American actress Shannon Elizabeth is pictured in Hamburg on Sept. 12, 2000. (Ulrich Perrey/picture alliance)

“The audition course of for ‘American Pie’ was tough,” said Elizabeth. “I used to be scared. I used to be actually scared.”

“And in the audition, it was the other of what you noticed in the film,” she smiled. “I needed to dance for Jason as an alternative of him dancing for me.”

Jim, played by Jason Biggs, looks shocked when exchanging student Nadia, played by Shannon Elizabeth, asks for help with her studies while his friends Oz, played by Chris Klein, and Kevin, played by Thomas Ian Nicholas, look on in “American Pie.” (Getty Images)

“I’d by no means do something that massive,” she reflected on her breakout performance. “But I used to be auditioning rather a lot on the time, and I used to be so excited after I received the function.”

Her signature accent for Nadia came by accident.

Shannon Elizabeth appears in a scene from the 2001 film “American Pie II,” directed by James B. Rogers. (Universal Pictures)

“I used to be in an performing class on the time when, a couple of weeks earlier than the audition, I attempted to do a French accent for one other character I used to be attempting to play,” she said. “I used to be working with somebody who was in the category, and he stated, ‘Remember whenever you tried to do the French accent in class? Do that. It sounds Russian.'”

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Like Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth would be open to another “American Pie” film, as long as the script is right. (Universal Pictures)

Following the film’s success, Elizabeth, who jumped into modeling right after high school, shot to sex symbol status overnight. But to her, being a pinup was just another role to play.

“Because I had completed a lot modeling, and also you do a number of underwear shoots and bathing fits and issues like that, I believe falling into the function of Nadia… it felt like I used to be doing one other modeling shoot in a approach,” she explained. “I did not consider her as anything. I used to be simply enjoying a personality. I wasn’t actually pondering an excessive amount of about it. I used to be enjoying the character that is on the web page.”

Shannon Elizabeth is interviewed by Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” on Aug. 23, 2001. (Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal)

“I’m not anyone [who’s] tremendous snug in my very own pores and skin, to be trustworthy,” she admitted. “But, you simply overcome that. When it’s a must to flip it on, it’s a must to work as a result of I do love working. I do love performing. So you simply let the whole lot else go.

From left: Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid, Shannon Elizabeth and Mena Suvari starred in the 1999 movie “American Pie,” directed by Paul Weitz. (Universal Pictures)

“I tend to be quite a shy person, but when I need to turn it on, I need to let the shy go. I flip a switch and do that. And then when it’s over, the switch goes off again, and I go back into shy mode.”

In March, Biggs, 47, instructed the New York Post he would like to return to the franchise. As Elizabeth embarks on her subsequent off-screen journey, she’s inquisitive about what Nadia can be as much as immediately. Like her co-star, she’s not ruling something out.

Shannon Elizabeth, seen right here with Jason Biggs, skyrocketed to fame following the success of “American Pie.” (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)

“I would love to see a film where it’s all about Nadia back in her home country and what she does there, and following her around, seeing her day-to-day life now,” Elizabeth gushed. “I think that would be so much fun.”