Shannon Elizabeths Bold New Life: From Hollywood to OnlyFans

She shot to fame after playing exchange student Nadia in the 1999 comedy American Pie.

But Shannon Elizabeth's career and life hasn't taken the typical path that one might expect from a nineties movie star. 

The actress, 52, - who announced this week that she was joining - soon ditched Hollywood to save rhinos in Africa and even become a professional poker player.

Shannon became a sex symbol throughout the 90s and 2000s after she played Nadia in 1999. She reprised the role two years later for the sequel American Pie 2 in 2001. 

The actress has also appeared in other film projects such as Scary Movie (2000), Thirteen Ghosts (2001), (2003) and Cursed (2005). 

But Shannon has also stepped away from the big screen to focus on other projects and in 2016 she moved to .

The star is vocal about her advocacy for protecting animals and wildlife and in 2018, she launched the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation. 

It is 'dedicated to protecting endangered species, preserving critical habitats, supporting rangers on the frontlines, and building lasting solutions for conservation,' per the official website. 

Her dedication to helping animals began in 2001 when she launched Animal Avengers in Los Angeles to rescue both dogs and cats.

'I knew I wanted to do more and do something on a bigger scale or help more animals,' she also told Fox News Digital. 'And eventually, all roads were leading me to South Africa.'

Shannon recently offered insight into her life in South Africa after moving there a decade earlier in 2016. 

'I think a lot of people, when they hear that I'm living in South Africa, they imagine you're living in the bush.' 

The actress continued: 'Even though our sanctuary is in the bush, my base camp is in Cape Town. It's beautiful. 

'But I think a lot of people only imagine Africa with lions walking around on every road you go.'

Last year while making an appearance at Steel City Con in NYC, Elizabeth further explained that her foundation is 'building a sanctuary,' per People. 

'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.' 

The star added: 'I started my charity, which was called Animal Avengers at the time. 

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

Just last week Shannon - who is originally from Texas - opened up about the moment she decided she wanted to leave the US to go and help animals in Africa.

She told Fox News: 'When I first went out there [to South Africa], and I came back, I was living in New York at the time.

'And I remember this moment of standing at a crosswalk. 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.