USA Today reports when Six Feet Under returns to HBO on June 6, the Fisher clan will be thrown into “life-altering experiences and sexual experimentation,” promises executive producer Alan Poul. “Our intention is to return to the lighter, unpredictable tone of the first two seasons.”

Mena Suvari, who worked with show creator Alan Ball in the movie American Beauty, joins the cast in the second episode as an art-school friend of Claire (Lauren Ambrose). “Mena’s character is a provocative performance artist and a strong feminist who doesn’t care what anyone thinks,” Poul says.

Mena Suvari is re-teaming with the film’s Oscar-winning writer Alan Ball, signing to do a six-episode arc on his acclaimed series “HBO’s Six Feet Under“.

On the quirky funeral-home drama, Suvari will play a student attending the same art school as Claire Fisher (Lauren Ambrose).

“She’s very independent, very self-motivated, very edgy and in a lot of ways much more grown-up than she should be considering how young she is,” Ball said of the character. “She and Claire influence each other both artistically and personally.”

The part proved very difficult to cast. After several unsuccessful casting sessions, Ball decided to go out on a limb and aim high with an offer to Suvari, who aside from sporadic guest spots early in her career has stayed focused on features.

“I’m thrilled because Mena is an extraordinarily talented and extraordinary disciplined actress, and I just think she can do anything,” Ball said. “In ‘American Beauty,’ that was a very tough role, much tougher than it may seem like on the surface, and in the work I’ve seen her do since, I think she’s got tremendous range.” [Source: Reuters]