The irrepressible Tara Reid talks about playing a conspiracy theorist in Robert Altman's Dr. T and the Women, and declares that her new beau, Carson Daly, is her true soulmate.
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The last time Tara Reid and I did the lunch thing, she was about to appear in a little movie called American Pie and she was as single as single could be.
That was in the last millennium. Since then, Pie turned out to be a sleeper hit and the sandpaper-voiced Jersey girl who first got moviegoers' attention by asking Jeff Bridges if he wanted his cock sucked for $1,000 in The Big Lebowski was invited to appear on MTV's Spring Break special in Cancun, Mexico, where she fell for MTV MVP Carson Daly.
"Two years ago," I say reading from my notes, as we sit on the patio at L.A.'s Mondrian Hotel, "you said that your perfect guy has to make you laugh and has to have a nice face to look at, but that he doesn't have to have a great body. He can even have a gut. Does Carson have a gut?"
"Carson's body's not bad but he doesn't have a six-pack," she laughs. "He's a kick-back kind of guy." Then she looks off in the distance and smiles. "When I have a fun moment and he's not around, I wish he was there to share it with," she sighs.
As if on cue, Reid's purse rings and she pulls out the trusty two-way pager Motorola gave her for free. "It's a message from Carson," she tells me, showing me the mini-screen: "I love you, Boozie."
She giggles, "We call each other Boozie."
"Is that because you're both drunks?'
"No, it's just a stupid name," she laughs. "Actually, we do drink margaritas all the time. Because we met in Mexico, that's our drink." She types a message back: "I miss you."
"So are you and Carson gonna get married?"
"I think it will happen," says Reid with a soft smile. "He's my soulmate, I swear to God. He balances me out. This is the first time in my life I feel totally, 100 percent solid."
"I read you two got an apartment together in New York."
"Oh yeah," she says, nodding. "We bought all the furniture in one day. We went into the showrooms and we were like, 'That, that, that and that,' taking turns with our credit cards. It was like the first time we ever spent money like adults."
Given Daly's job, I can imagine what must go on at the new casa: Eminem crashing on the sofa, pillow fights with the Spice Girls, Puff Daddy leaving phone messages from jail. "I see every-thing," Reid laughs. "Kid Rock, who you would think would leave crazy messages, actually leaves the nicest messages like, 'Hey Carson, it's Bob. Gimme a call.'" I nod like I knew that Kid Rock was really named Bob.
"It's so funny," she continues, "because I never thought I'd be involved in that world at all, but here I am, dealing with crazy rock stars."
Not that her own world isn't crazy enough. In her new movie, Robert Altman's Dr. T and the Women, she plays the conspiracy theorist daughter of coddled Texas housewife Farrah Fawcett and rich gynecologist Richard Gere. "When I got the part in Dr. T everyone was saying, 'Oh my God, Richard is so sexy,'" recalls Reid. "But I'd never been into older men. Then I met him and I was like, 'I totally get it.'
"It's the first movie I've done where the crew was like senior citizens," Reid continues, "Altman is so loyal, he's had the same grips forever."
"What was it like working with such a legendary actor's director?"
"He's really good at understanding people," she says reverently.
Having known what she wanted ever since that day in the mall 23 years ago when she caught the eye of a talent agent by jumping up on a lunch table and serenading the food court, Reid can be for-given for having a little paranoia about keeping what took her so long to win. "For the longest time, I didn't get shit, I didn't get anything," she says. "There were so many times where I thought, 'What am I doing, man? I'm told every day that I'm not good enough or too Jersey. I was like, 'What the fuck does that mean, too Jersey?'"
"The way you Just said that," I offer, "that was bordering on too Jersey."
Reid laughs knowingly and says, "Yeah, I know, but that's me. And now I'm working!"
That, she is. In addition to Dr. T and the Women, she's finished the time-travel comedy The Visitors and is winding up her role as Melody in the live-action version of the classic cartoon Josie and the Pussycats.
"I've been going to band camp for three months learning to play the drums--I'm good at them, too," she boasts.
"I'm sorry," I say. "But I can't hear the words 'band camp' without thinking of that line in American Pie."
"'One time, at band camp, I stuck a flute up my pussy,'" recites Reid, channeling costar Alyson Hannigan. "That was the best line in the whole movie. Dude, they're doing American Pie 2. We all signed onto it when we did the first one. The script is supposed to be done in a few weeks."
Suddenly, Reid's trusty pager rings again. It's Daly wondering, "Where are you?" Reid smiles, then slides the gadget back in her purse. She's about to go meet him, but I decide that I can't let the First Lady of MTV leave with-out getting something off of my chest. "I like Britney Spears way better than Christina Aguilera!" I blurt out.
Reid, God bless her, practically high fives me. "Britney's humble and a great performer," she concurs, "Christina is like a diva and looks down on you."
"Yeah, talk about too Jersey," I say as we head out. Reid gives me a big smile and heads off to wherever Carson Daly is waiting.
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Dennis Hensley interviewed Jennifer Grey for the October issue of Movieline.