By Jeanne Wolf, Photographs: Marc Baptiste

cuter-than-cute blonde girl walks into the room as a tense Vegas poker tournament is about to start. The pros tease her and generally don't take her seriously when she sits down to play the game. The celebrity cardsharps greet her in a friendly way but discount her as a threat. Hours later, however, Mena Suvari giggles and hauls in the pot of chips. The ingénue player leaves the guys in the dust.

Mena confessed to me that she makes no apologies about her intense passions for poker and fashion. She excels at both. Of course, she's most intense about her acting career. Ever since she made her sensuous mark in American Beauty, Hollywood has taken her very seriously.

She's happy that she'll be remembered forever for her rose-petaled bathtub scene as the underaged femme fatale who ignites the sexual fantasies of Kevin Spacey in the Academy Award-winning drama, and also for her part in the hugely successful comedy American Pie. But watch out: This young actress has since explored a range of roles that has landed her in some big movies and what turned out to be a scandalous story arc as Edie on HBO's Six Feet Under. In person, you can just tell that a whole lot is going on underneath Mena's petite, bubbly, almost doll-like exterior. She's an intriguing combination of innocence and sexuality.

Mena's parents moved with her to Los Angeles when she was a teenager so that she could chase her dream in California. She snagged small parts in television series and films such as Kiss the Girls and Slums of Beverly Hills before making a lasting impression in American Beauty. Offscreen, she became a married woman at 21, sneaking in a surprise wedding to Robert Brinkmann, the cinematographer she worked with on Sugar & Spice. Quieting the doubters, the two have been married for four years, sharing a love of the fun and art of movies. And, of course, he cheers her at the poker table.

VEGAS: So you're a Vegas regular?

MENA SUVARI: Oh, yeah, I've been many times. The last time I was there I did Celebrity Poker Showdown. I've been playing poker for a while.

How did you get into that?

My mom has told me my grandmother always had poker games at her house and she'd win, so I got it from that. I love it. That's the best part about Vegas. I can walk into a room and it's all men, and everybody's, like, 50 years old, and they all look at you and think, Oh, who's this cutie-patootie? Come and play poker, coochie-coo. They're thinking they're going to take my money. Then I sit down at a table and win every hand and all of their jaws are just dropping. I remember one time at the Bellagio I got a full house and won a huge pot and all of them shut up really quick.

Is it a game where a little acting talent comes in handy?

It requires strategy and psychology to win and you do have to put on your good poker face. And it's very surreal with the excitement and rush, knowing that even if you have a good hand, you still don't know what's going to happen...

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