spot_img
spot_img

Saturday Special: In Conversation with Tara Reid

Tara Reid burst onto the scene as the flawless blue-eyed babe of the iconic 1999 camp comedy American Pie, a Fast Times at Ridgemont High for twenty-something Gen-Xers and precocious Millennials. Her flawless all-American looks led to films from cult favorite The Big Lebowski, to Urban Legend, Van Wilder, Josie and the Pussycats, Dr. T & the Women, and My Boss’s Daughter. She starred and held her own alongside Ryan Reynolds, Ashton Kutcher, Rosario Dawson, Kate Hudson, Richard Gere, and other movie heavyweights.

And then, something happened. Reid was young, stunning, and famous; and the media began taking more of an interest in her after-hours role as Hollywood’s resident party girl; largely ignoring her talent and her work ethic. Unlike most of us, Reid’s young adult days and nights were captured by paparazzi for the world to see. During our interview, she is quick to point out that, at the very least, mercifully, social media had not yet been invented. Thank God for small favors. 

A painful public breakup with then-fiancé Carson Daly and about with botched plastic surgery further spun Reid’s public narrative out of control. She recently told E! News, “They almost make a cartoon character out of you, and they keep going with it,” referring to the rampant tabloid journalism of the 2000s.

The experience sent Reid reeling, and into a self-imposed media exile where she learned to reflect, regroup, and re-emerge focused on her craft, and with a healthy sense of humor as she displays in her willingness to embrace the camp genre with the Sharknado film series. In addition to working in front of the camera, she’s added film producer to her resume, with an upcoming slate of releases under her production banner, Hi Happy Films.

As women in our forties, Tara Reid and I discuss the power of knowing oneself and becoming unflappable in the face of life’s inevitable ebbs and flows. Smart, soulful, and creative, Tara Reid has reclaimed her power and found her most valuable commodity: peace of mind.  

Allison Kugel: You were just working on a film with DMX before he passed?

Tara Reid: Yeah, a movie called Doggmen. It’s his last film and it was really interesting because he didn’t get to finish the whole film. They had to do what they did with Paul Walker (in his last Fast & Furious role). They make these facial sculptures and they put it on a face, and it looks exactly like [DMX]. It’s crazy.

Allison Kugel: What is that going to feel like for you, to do that?

Tara Reid: I think everyone was absolutely broken by DMX’s [death].  He wasn’t just a great rapper, but he was a poet. I think he was one of the best rappers of our time, and this movie explains that. The last person that really did that was Tupac. I think it will be a great film.  He’s a great actor, he’s a voice, and that mattered a lot to him. I think he will be really happy about how this movie comes out and looks. It’s DMX, and just to be a part of that history with him is pretty much incredible. 

Allison Kugel: What three events in your life, if you had to narrow it down to three, shaped who you are today?

Tara Reid: Wow, that is a great question! Well, I guess one of them would be my parents making me, otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, so congratulations on that one (laughs)!  I think another one would be feeling the force of getting into Hollywood, which is the hardest thing to do, becoming a working actor. 

Allison Kugel: What do you mean by “the force?” 

Tara Reid: It’s so hard to make it in Hollywood to begin with. It’s like winning a lottery ticket. To be lucky and fortunate enough to get there was incredible, and then seeing the aftereffects, and everything like that. The third and most painful one was having my parents pass away. That gave me a whole different look on everything. 

Allison Kugel: Did it make you think about where they went when they passed? When my grandfather passed away when I was 32, the question that kept going through my mind was, “Where is he?” It started me on this journey of looking into life after death. Did you go through anything like that?

Tara Reid: I would talk about that with my sister, about where we go after this. Honestly, the hardest part, you’re going to make me cry now…

Allison Kugel: No, no, no…

Tara Reid: It’s okay. The hardest part is not being able to call your parents up and ask, “Hey, how do I make this lasagna?” or “How do I make this or that?” They were such good cooks. There are so many things I wish they wrote down, like their recipes, or even just to call them on the phone. I feel like I see signs a lot. I definitely feel their energy around me, and it’s healing for me.

Allison Kugel: What was your biggest take away from 2020? 

Tara Reid: COVID was something that, obviously, we never expected, like the Black Plague.

Allison Kugel: What do you have coming up?

Tara Reid: We are doing this one movie called Masha’s Mushroom (starring Reid, Vivica A. Fox, Beverly D’Angelo).The director, White Cross, she’s also my partner on that particular film, and she is absolutely brilliant. We got connected with such valuable people from financing to distribution, and I learned aspects of the business that I never knew before. I realized how hard it is to make a film come together and it gave me a completely different appreciation for the film business as a whole.

Allison Kugel: You’re also working on a vegan handbag line…

Tara Reid: I can’t say too much about it just yet, but it’s being done with a great handbag maker named Michael Kuluva.  As far as the handbags, I can tell you they are not made of leather, and they might be made out of vegetables and fruit, believe it or not. I know it sounds crazy. You would be shocked at how it’s made. Then, during this whole process, my boyfriend and I went down to Sedona, Arizona. My father told me, before he died, that he went there with his brother and it is very healing; it’s where the vortex (swirling centers of healing energy, where the earth is said to be “most alive”) is, and it’s very hippie and spiritual.  We were supposed to stay four days and we wound up staying for four weeks.

Allison Kugel: What was your favorite film role, and why? 

Tara Reid: This is actually a really good story. Last night I was with my boyfriend watching TV and as we were going through the channels, HBO came up and my boyfriend says, “Oh My God, this is crazy, you’re on TV.” I looked and it was Josie and The Pussycats. That has always been my favorite movie that I’ve ever done. It was so much fun. Rachael Leigh Cook is amazing.  Rosario Dawson was amazing. We were shooting up in Canada, having fun doing a girl’s movie, and the whole movie was the best experience. I played Melody, and she was always happy, a little bit ditsy, but kind of psychic. It was great waking up every day, playing a happy girl.  

Allison Kugel: Have you forgiven the media for the way that they treated you years back, or do you still struggle with that?

Tara Reid: That is a really good question. I didn’t, and I was upset about it when I was younger, but I realized the only way I was going to grow and get out of that situation was to grow as a woman. So, therefore, I do forgive them now. I have moved on, and my press has changed. I’m not angry about it anymore. When you finally let something go, it goes. It’s like taking a balloon and putting it up in the air, and it’s gone. I’m 45 years old and I’m not a child anymore. I’m not the little girl from American Pie. A lot of things have changed in my life, and I wouldn’t take back anything, because again, it put me where I’m at right now.

Allison Kugel: What do you think you came into this life as Tara Reid, to learn and what do think you came here to teach? 

Tara Reid: I think I came into this life to teach people to feel good. I think I have a gift. It just seems like everywhere I go, among my friends, if there is something happening in their life, they talk to me, and I talk to them and I get them out of situations. What I’m here to learn is almost the opposite of that. I’ve had to learn to be progressive, humble and to keep myself open to learning information that I can use to help others and help myself.

Allison Kugel: When you were on that first American Pie set, did all of you have a feeling like, “Wow! This is going to blow up and make us all famous,” or did it just feel like… a job?

Tara Reid: I think I felt like, “Oh, this is just a job.”  Everyone in the cast was so new. The actors were mostly very green. It was the first movie for most of them, so we had a bond that was really close. When it blew up, you know, we still have that bond every time we see each other. The first people that you make it with, that never go away. The movie I was most excited about but didn’t do well was Josie and The Pussycats. You never know what is going to work and what is not. 

Allison Kugel:  Where do you see yourself in five years if you had to visualize it?

Tara Reid: I definitely see myself being in a place where I’m excited and happy about producing and acting, and maybe married. I have great friends, so just to keep my friends close. I don’t have many friends, just ones that are my favorite and best, and we would do anything for each other.

Photo Credits: Brooke Mason Photography 

Follow Tara Reid on Instagram and Twitter @TaraReid

Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment and pop culture columnist and author of the book, Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record. Follow on Instagram @theallisonkugel and AllisonKugel.com.

Will You Support Our Work?

People turns to WhatsOn to understand what's goingOn? We have been empowering through hope & understanding for the last forty years. We’re an independent social enterprise & our journalism is powered by our supporters. Financial contributions from our readers allows us to keep our journalism free for all & to change the world for better. Please support us, with your donation - no matter how small. Your donation makes a real difference, it empowers our activist & academy, and engages wider community groups, & universities - connecting more people. WhatsOn is a change maker, let’s get our future back together!

Related Articles

Latest Articles