Entertainment
Hollywood has knocked the actor down a few times.
She always gets back up.
Tara Reid sits in a booth at a crowded private club in West Hollywood.
Its after sunset, the lights low, our table illuminated by the glow of her iPhone.
Tara, my family and I just watched theSpecial Forcesshow.
The connection was undeniable.
Stripped of makeup and artifice, Reids teary on-screen confessionals were heartbreakingly raw.
Moments later, she described herself as a broken bird.
), Reidhad one of the great cinematic introductionsof all time.
According to Reid, shebeat out Charlize Theron and Liv Tylerfor the role.
Later, at an Oscars party, Julianne Moore introduced herself.
She was a fan.
There was lots to celebrate and, well, she celebrated hard.
Her every stumble was chronicled by what amounted to her own paparazzi press corps.
Tara Reid was everywhere.
And then E!verywhere.
Five years after starring in a tasty bit of Oscar bait calledDr.
T & the Womenopposite Richard Gere,she was relegated to hosting a reality show on E!
But sinceSpecial Forces,people have been calling Reid something else: a survivor.
That quality was obvious to Becky Clarke, executive producer and showrunner of the series.
Weve all got scars, havent we?
Weve all suffered the highs and the lows.
And thats what Tara represents.
Because shes real, Clarke says.
She came not to just prove to people that there was more to her than the tabloid tale.
She came for herself.
Its definitely nostalgia, Tara Reid saysof the surge in goodwill.
She looks her age, 48, which is not a judgment but rather a fact.
Weve all grown up.
But unlike the men ofAmerican Pie,people are still curious about her.
Earlier this year, she guest-starred on CBS megapopular sitcomGhosts, a cameo two years in the making.
I think the 90s are coming back right now, she continues.
And I feel theres a lot of that.
Its like, You know what?
Now that were seeing her again, come back.
But she was the kind of famous where you invest in three restaurants and a fast-food-inspired spot called Ketchup.
Reid also had a clothing line with Ed Hardy designer Christian Audigier called Mantra a perfect 2000s MadLib.
Her currency was youth.
But her appeal went beyond that.
Every single person every single guy they were all staring at me, she says.
I had no clue.
Everyone wanted a piece.
Before a public engagement (then disengagement) with Carson Daly, she briefly dated Tom Brady.
Wed just see each other on and off, she says of the young Patriots quarterback.
It was nothing serious, but it was fun.
Wed go to beer places and have fun and dance.
Hes all skinny now.
He used to laugh.
When I watch his interviews, hes so cocky now.
It was a different time, she says wistfully, the words hanging in the air.
This was before Instagram, before smartphones, before all of it.
We used to go out, do whatever we wanted thenbam.
It just changed so fast.
She remembers the moment she felt the vibe shift.
It felt like a thousand photographers, she says.
I couldnt even get in the car.
She recalls another night at the Whisky Bar at the Sunset Marquis.
Every celebrity went there.
You couldnt even walk out of that place without getting those cameras.
They would follow me in my cars everywhere.
Theyll get in the front of your car, the back of your car you couldnt even move.
I never had a sex tape, Reid says.
People got in trouble, been in jail Ive never got a speeding ticket in my life.
Why am I being punished?
Of the press, she says, they kind of made me a cartoon character.
Everything I did was wrong.
And then the casting, the studios they didnt want any bad reputation.
Does she think she ever lost a job because of her reputation?
Probably a lot of them, she says.
Reids reputation wasnt made up from whole cloth (or a crop top, anyway).
She drank too much.
She flashed her breasts on a red carpet.
(Reid said it was a total accident.)
She picked a fight with Lindsay Lohan, calling her a mean drunk.
But that was decades ago.
And its hard to ignore the whiff of a double standard.
He now hosts theTodayshow.
But the opportunities werent any better.
But she couldnt shake the Tara Reid caricature.
What shes really asking is for the public to consider the role the paparazzi played.
That these photographers and the magazines poured fuel on the fire and then made money off the wreckage.
That there was a human cost to the way they hounded her, and Lindsay and Britney and Paris.
This is not the last time she will cry tonight.
But she knew how to capitalize on a moment.
WhenSharknadobecame a surprise hit, she ran with it making six of them.
(The last one involved time travel.)
As proof, she says, Montpetit-Howar briefly got himself kicked off Instagram for defending her honor.
Perhaps it was this relationship that gave Reid the confidence to make her own luck.
I got people on the phone that I never got on the phone before, she says.
Bigger agents, managers because I was going to cast their clients.
Do you know what I mean?
The film will also star Vivica A.
Fox and Beverly DAngelo, but Reid is firmly the lead.
Its trippy, Reid says of the film, and also really sad.
This may be a spoiler, but the party, she reveals, its a funeral.
Also, the project might be a trilogy.
That shed be attracted to a through-the-looking-glass story makes sense.
Reid always imagined a movie would be her entree back.
We all knowAmerican Pie, Clarke says.
To be that girl and then what would it be, thirty years later?
To still be there standing?
This experience this reality show it looks from the outside like its a test of brute strength.
[But] its about resilience.
Still, I joke to Reid, wouldnt it have been easier to go onDancing With the Stars?
They called, I think, three times, Reid says earnestly, but the timing was never right.
I had a broken foot one time, you know what I mean?
Shes just come from a general meeting at Netflix, and apparently it went well.
The executives she sat with already called her manager to say they want to find something to do together.
The outpouring of love from fans sinceSpecial Forces it looks good on her.
And for the first time in years, she can feel people rooting for her.
Ive never felt so much love and support in my life, she says.
Shed gone onSpecial Forcesto develop a thicker skin.
She was tired of the public discourse about her appearance.
Today she laughs: I feel fine in my body.
Its just no one else does.
She and Monpetit-Howar have been talking about moving to Florida pretty seriously actually, she reveals.
Were thinking about Delray Beach.
Fort Lauderdale is nice.
But its clear she has unfinished business with this town.
The part is called Tara Reid to get attention, she says, shaking her head.
Its one thing onGhosts where the cameo is relevant to the plot.But here?
Why do I have to be Tara Reid?
I just want to go back to where I started.
I dont see a problem with that.
Why is that so hard?
Earlier, Id asked her if there was anything shed specifically wanted to talk about.
Now says there is.
And I would really love to come back to Hollywood and be accepted again.
