American Pie star explains why she quit Hollywood and moved to South Africa eight years ago

While some Hollywood stars have their big breakout role and then go on to star in countless other hit projects, others do a total 180 and pursue something else.

From the child stars who disappeared from the spotlight to Frankie Muniz being a race car driver while still working on acting gigs, it’s not unusual for actors to do change things up.

And one American Pie star opened up about why she quit the industry and moved from the US to South Africa eight years ago, having said she ‘wouldn’t have had a career’ without her nude scene.

The initial 1999 film was such a hit it sparked a whole franchise, with much of the actors never quite shaking off the references to their characters decades on.

One of those actors was Shannon Elizabeth, who, of course, played exchange student Nadia.

But in recent years, she’s given going on exchange a new meaning.

She played the stunning exchange student Nadia. (Getty Images)

Elizabeth explained to the crowd at Steel City Con in Pittsburgh earlier this month that she moved over to South Africa to work on her conservation charity, the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation.

The 51-year-old said she started this charity after American Pie and was initially called ‘Animal Avengers.'

“And it's been going since then, it's just morphed over the years into conservation and wildlife from dogs and cats,” she said.

Elizabeth also gave an update on her charity’s recent work: “We're building a sanctuary.

"We have a blind black rhino we've been taking care of, and we're going to bring in more rhinos as soon as we can do an expansion."

But as well as chatting about the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation, she did also chat about her time playing Nadia.

She reflected on when she was working on the accent for the exchange student, who was portrayed as eastern-European.

Wildlife conservation is firmly Elizabeth's foundation's 'core purpose'. (Kayla Oaddams/Getty Images)

Elizabeth recalled being in the studio, trying out voiceovers both with and without an inflection.

She explained: “After that whole exercise, I didn't know what they were going to choose.

"All of my friends were like, 'So how was it?' I was like, 'This movie is going to suck ... they're messing with the accent.' I had no idea!"

Well, she of course couldn’t have been more wrong as American Pie became a total cult classic.

Elizabeth ended up appearing in a number of the films as well as bagging roles in the likes of Scary Movie, Tomcats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.