Finding someone who doesn’t remember Tara Reid’s 90s hegemony over television and magazines would require a lot of effort.
Starlet Tara Reid owned us in every way in the 1990s and early 2000s, appearing on the covers of magazines like Maxim, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and Seventeen as well as in films like American Pie and Van Wilder.
But has Tara been heard from recently? Is she still performing, or has she quietly become a permanent fixture in our memories? Let’s see what Tara Reid has been up to since we last checked in on the blond bombshell.
Background info
Thomas Reid Jr. and Donna (Bennett) Reid welcomed Tara Donna Reid into the world on November 8th, 1975 in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Her parents were both local teachers and proprietors of daycare facilities. Her mother passed away in 2018, and sadly, her father died in 2016.
Three siblings, Tommy, a director, writer, and producer; younger twins Colleen, who assists the director on various projects; and Patrick, who has worked as an actor, production assistant, and in the costume department.
Together with celebrities like Macaulay Culkin, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jerry O’Connell, and Christina Ricci, Reid attended the exclusive Professional Children’s School.
Acting Career
The first time Tara appeared on television, she was only six years old and appeared on the game show Child’s Play. She was also the queen of the commercial, appearing in over 100 ads as the spokesperson for brands like Crayola, McDonald’s, Jell-O, and Milton Bradley.
She played Amanda in her first on-screen role in the 1987 comedy-horror movie A Return to Salem’s Lot.
Her first notable appearance was in a 1994 episode of Saved by the Bell: The New Class, followed by a 1995 stint as Ashely on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Tara Reid began to climb to fame at the end of the 1990s, when she starred in a number of cult favorites.
The Big Lebowski
She began with playing Bunny Lebowski in the 1998 Coen brothers movie The Big Lebowski. Later that year, she played Sasha Thomas in the movie Urban Legend.
She had a modest but lucrative role in the 1999 hit Cruel Intentions, maintaining the momentum. Tara’s subsequent part that year would solidify her success.
American Pie
In the teen coming-of-age comedy American Pie, Tara’s portrayal of the naïve Victoria “Vicky” Lathum would come to define her career.
The plot of the film revolves around a five-person vow to lose their virginity before graduating high school, one of them being Kevin, Vicky’s boyfriend.
Reid later made an appearance in the more popular sequel, American Pie 2, but he didn’t return for the third picture, nor did a few other major players from the first two.
In the final episode of the original franchise, American Reunion, Tara and the rest of the crew would reunite for one more meal.
What did she do after American Pie?
Following her role as Melody Valentine in the beloved 2001 picture Josie and the Pussycats, Tara went on to star as one of Ryan Reynolds’ early movies, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, in 2002, and as Ashton Kutcher’s love interest, My Boss’s Daughter, in 2003.
She appeared in 11 episodes of the popular television show Scrubs as Danni Sullivan from 2003 to 2005.
With the exception of her roles in the American Pie sequels, Tara spent the majority of the ensuing years acting in low-budget, low-rated movies and television shows.
Sharknado
That is, until she played April Wexler in the 2013 comedy disaster film Sharknado on the Syfy channel.
Reid’s career would receive a much-needed boost from the movie, and she would go on to feature in the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 sequel movies.
What is Tara Reid doing now?
Tara is still acting today, but she does so on her own terms. She appears to be accepting jobs with smaller budgets and more independent productions in addition to her preferred projects via her producing firm, Instant Entertainment.
With an astonishing 16 projects in pre-production, post-production, ongoing production, or finished but unreleased, Reid is involved in a number of them as producer or executive producer.
Tara hasn’t stopped working since she shot to stardom in the 1990s, but she wants more control now than she did when her career was at its peak, and she wants to write the parts she thinks suit her the most.
We may have to wait to find out, though, as Reid had just posted some unsettling and mysterious messages to her social media pages, a la Britney Spears, that have worried some of her admirers.
She is once more generating buzz around her name, whether it be to draw attention to her for the numerous new ventures she has planned or for some other reason.
Tara never ignores the fans in everything she does. She began attending conventions in 2017 and made six appearances in 2022 alone.
For a customized video or video call to brighten your day, fans may also find her on Cameo.
Personal life
Tara has a love life that is just as wild as the 1990s were in terms of relationships and love. She was linked to her American Pie co-star Jason Biggs and dated everyone’s favorite 90s heartthrob Devon Sawa and lead vocalist of everyone’s favorite band they denied they loved, Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit.
Over the years, she is said to have dated well-known figures like Travis Barker, Eminem, Tommy Lee, JC Chasez, Tom Brady, and Joe Francis.
She first met Carson Daly, presenter of TRL, in 2000. The two soon moved in together and became engaged in less than a year. Reid’s tumultuous and painful breakup took some time for her to recover from. Since 2000, she has reportedly been engaged four times.
The actress, who has been seeing Nathan Montpetit-Howar since the fall of 2019, appears to have things under control. In August 2022, the couple was taking some much-needed vacations and upgrading the Los Angeles home they share.
Tara Reid is prepared to begin the next chapter of her life in her own unique style with so many projects already in development, her own production business to work with, and a new story she wants to write. And she can count on our support as she pursues her next chance at fame.
