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American actress, who grew up in Wyckoff, aims
to parlay her role as Bunny Lebowski, the bikini-clad trophy wife
in the Coen brothers' latest comedy, into Hollywood power.
"I don't want to just act," Reid says in a phone interview
from her current home in the Hollywood hills. "I want to produce,
direct, and write films. I want to be a powerful voice in Hollywood
at a young age, and it's going to happen."
Reid says this with such conviction it's impossible to disbelieve
her. And anyone who's seen her in "The Big Lebowski" knows
that despite a grand total of about 45 seconds on screen, Reid makes
a big impression, including delivering one of the more memorable lines
of the movie season to Jeff Bridges.
Her rock-solid belief in herself comes from her parents, Donna and
Tom Reid, who run a pair of day-care centers, in Wayne and Mahwah,
with the irresistible name of Donna Reid's Child Development Centers.
"My father always told me that a life without a dream is no
life at all," Reid says. "They've both always been very
supportive."
Reid's acting career started right here in Bergen County, at the
food court in Paramus Park mall. She was 4 years old and had a habit
of getting up on the table and singing and dancing, much to the annoyance
of her mom.
But other mall patrons loved the little girl's song-and-dance routine,
and encouraged her. One of them was a New York talent agent, who went
on to book little Tara on national commercials for McDonald's, Jell-O,
and Citrus Hill, among others.
At 6, she appeared as a cast member on "Child's Play,"
a CBS-TV game show for kids, and at 12, in a Stephen King movie, "Return
to Salem's Lot." She played a vampire named Amanda.
After Reid graduated from Barnstable Academy, she headed west with
her parents' blessing, taking on Hollywood at the age of 18 without
an agent. It didn't take Reid long before she appeared on sitcoms
like "Saved By the Bell" and the daytime soap "Days
of Our Lives."
Following a brief stint back in New York for acting classes, Reid's
big break came.
"Right after I moved back to L.A., I heard about auditions for
'The Big Lebowski,'" Reid says. "It was at the Coens' office,
and Charlize Theron ['Devil's Advocate,' 'Mighty Joe Young'] was in
the waiting room, too. Charlize went in and auditioned, and when she
came out, she wasn't smiling. I went in there and I got it. You know
when you nail something, and you know when you don't. I saw the way
they reacted, and I just knew I had the part."
That's when the offers started pouring in.
"Everybody in Hollywood loves the Coen brothers, and when I
got the part, they wanted to know who Tara Reid was," Reid says.
"I wanted to prove I'm not just hype, I'm talented."
Reid will have that opportunity in a string of films due out over
the next 18 months.
She plays a couple of roles in "a weird, really crazy silent
movie" based on a script by Ed Wood, "I Woke Up Early the
Day I Died," starring "Titanic" villain Billy Zane.
She plays the nurturing girlfriend of a drug addict in "Around
the Fire." She plays a lesbian rock star in "Girl,"
opposite Sean Patrick Flannery and Dominique Swain. She's "a
little psycho" in an upcoming ABC movie of the week, "Fork
at Devil's Glen," with Rick Schroder. She has a small role in
"Cruel Inventions," which stars her former high school classmate,
Sarah Michele Gellar. And she's the romantic lead, opposite Jared
Leto ("Prefontaine," "My So-Called Life"), in
"Urban Legends."
In addition, her older brother, Tommy, 24, has just moved right up
the street from Tara. He's currently at work on a screenplay.
"The Reids will definitely team up," says Tara. "I
absolutely want to have one of my friends write a film. I'll produce
and star, and my brother will direct. It's absolutely going to happen."
Tara Reid Personal videos and photos - Click here!
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