# Tara Reid
**Tara Reid** (born 1975 in [Wyckoff, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/wyckoff-new-jersey)) is an American actress best known for playing Bunny Lebowski in *The Big Lebowski* (1998) and Vicky in the *American Pie* films, and later for the *[Sharknado](https://www.edgepedia.org/sharknado-film-series)* television movie franchise.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/bio/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) Her full birth name is Tara Donna Reid.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975, Wyckoff, New Jersey, to Donna and Tom Reid, both teachers[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/bio/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/reid-tara-1975) |
| Early start | Appeared on the children's game show *Child's Play* (1982) at age six, then in commercials for Jell-O, McDonald's, and Crayola[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) |
| Breakout | Bunny in *The Big Lebowski* (1998), followed by Vicky in *American Pie* (1999)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) |
| Peak-era films | *Urban Legend*, *Cruel Intentions*, *Josie and the Pussycats*, *Van Wilder* (1998–2002)[4](https://www.papermag.com/tara-reid-interview-mashas-mushroom-nicole-kidman) |
| Franchise work | April Wexler in six *Sharknado* films (2013–2018) on Syfy[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) • [4](https://www.papermag.com/tara-reid-interview-mashas-mushroom-nicole-kidman) |
| Output | More than 45 films by 2014, by her own count; 89 acting credits listed on IMDb[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) |
| Production | Owner of the production company Hi Happy Films[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/reid-tara-1975) |
## Early life and start in acting
Reid grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and began working as a child. Her first screen appearance came at age six on the children's game show *Child's Play* (1982), followed by television commercials for Jell-O, McDonald's, and Crayola.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) She attended the [Professional Children's School](https://www.edgepedia.org/professional-childrens-school) in New York City, where her classmates included [Sarah Michelle Gellar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-michelle-gellar), Jerry O'Connell, Macaulay Culkin, and Ben Taylor.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) Her first film role was in the [Stephen King](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-king) adaptation *A Return to Salem's Lot* (1987).[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/reid-tara-1975) • [6](https://www.nndb.com/people/385/000026307/)
## Breakthrough in the late 1990s
After television guest spots including *Saved by the Bell: The New Class*, Reid landed the role of Bunny, the trophy wife of [Jeff Bridges](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-bridges)'s character, in the Coen Brothers' *The Big Lebowski* (1998).[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/tara-reid/) According to Reid, she beat out [Charlize Theron](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlize-theron) and [Liv Tyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/liv-tyler) for the part.[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview) She has said her hands were shaking throughout her scene with Bridges, in which Bunny lounges poolside and asks him to blow on her freshly painted toenails.[9](https://303magazine.com/2014/08/qa-with-tara-reid/)
The same year she appeared in the teen slasher *Urban Legend* as Sasha, a college radio therapist, and in the independent drama *Girl* as Cybil, a musician in the Seattle alt-rock scene.[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/tara-reid/) In 1999 she played Vicky, one of the central girlfriends in the high school sex comedy *American Pie*, the role that made her widely known; she reprised Vicky in *American Pie 2* (2001) and *American Reunion* (2012).[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits) • [5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) Her run of turn-of-the-millennium studio comedies also included *Cruel Intentions* (1999), *Josie and the Pussycats* (2001), and *Van Wilder* (2002), in which she played Gwen Pearson opposite [Ryan Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-reynolds).[4](https://www.papermag.com/tara-reid-interview-mashas-mushroom-nicole-kidman) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits)
## Tabloid era and career shift
At the height of her fame Reid was a fixture of the early-2000s paparazzi culture, appearing at nightclubs alongside [Paris Hilton](https://www.edgepedia.org/paris-hilton) and other celebutantes; a 2003 *Rolling Stone* profile of Hilton featured Reid partying at a Los Angeles nightclub.[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) She leveraged the party-girl image into the E! reality series *Taradise*, which followed her travels to party destinations in Spain, Greece, Italy, France, and Monaco.[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) • [4](https://www.papermag.com/tara-reid-interview-mashas-mushroom-nicole-kidman) She went to rehab in 2008 for troubles with alcohol, telling *People* magazine she had "done enough [partying] for a lifetime."[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview)
Reid has said the tabloid framing cost her work. "They kind of made me a cartoon character. Everything I did was wrong. And then the casting, the studios, they didn't want any bad reputation," she told *Bustle* in 2023, adding that she believed she had lost "a lot" of jobs over her reputation.[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview) In a 2014 *TIME* interview she made a similar point: "The magazines aren't even letting me grow up, and that's what's hurting me with the character roles."[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) A *TIME* writer observed that, unlike some peers, her off-screen conduct did not appear to have interfered with her professionalism on set, but rather with getting credible work in the first place.[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/)
During this period she worked steadily in lower-profile projects: a recurring part as Danni Sullivan on the medical comedy *Scrubs*, the direct-to-video and independent film circuit, and reality television including *Celebrity Big Brother UK* in 2011.[10](https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/131600) • [11](https://media.newsreview.com/article/tara-reid-2017-career-context-projects-and-public-profile) She also appeared in the critically panned video-game adaptation *Alone in the Dark* (2005) opposite [Christian Slater](https://www.edgepedia.org/christian-slater).[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits)
## Sharknado and the comeback
The 2013 Syfy television movie *Sharknado*, about a tornado carrying sharks onto Los Angeles, became an unexpected viral hit, generating about 5,000 tweets a minute during its original airing, which drew 1.4 million viewers.[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) • [12](https://time.com/3057837/sharknado-2-everything-you-need-to-know/) For Reid it was her first buzzy role after nearly a decade of straight-to-video horror films and comedies.[5](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/) She played April Wexler, wife of [Ian Ziering](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-ziering)'s Fin Shepard, across the series, which ran through *Sharknado 2: The Second One* (2014), *Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!*, *Sharknado: The 4th Awakens*, *Sharknado 5: Global Swarming*, and *The Last Sharknado: It's About Time* (2018).[4](https://www.papermag.com/tara-reid-interview-mashas-mushroom-nicole-kidman) She said she played the role seriously despite the absurd premise: "If you were playing it, laughing all the time, the story line wouldn't even make sense."[13](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2014/07/27/Tara-Reid-says-she-plays-her-role-seriously-in-the-Sharknado-movies/9751406076455/) The franchise also inspired a perfume, Shark by Tara, sold for $24.95.[14](https://time.com/3066963/tara-reid-shark-perfume/)
## Recent work
Reid has continued to work steadily in independent and genre film, and has moved into producing through Hi Happy Films.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/reid-tara-1975) She is producing and starring in *Masha's Mushroom*, a project she developed through her company during the pandemic, with [Vivica A. Fox](https://www.edgepedia.org/vivica-a-fox) and [Beverly D'Angelo](https://www.edgepedia.org/beverly-dangelo) also cast.[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview) She played herself in a 2019 episode of Amazon's *The Boys* and guest-starred as herself on the CBS sitcom *Ghosts* in 2023, a cameo built on a running gag in which a character recalls partying with her in the Hamptons.[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview)
In 2023 she competed on season 2 of the Fox reality series *Special Forces: World's Toughest Test*, which puts celebrities through military-style training. She said she joined because she felt she had "something to prove" after years of being bullied over her image.[15](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/tara-reid-reflects-being-bullied-a-lot-being-seen-as-party-girl-american-pie) The appearance changed her public reception: her inbox filled with supportive messages, and the show's executive producer Becky Clarke described her as representing resilience.[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview) As broader culture has reexamined how young women of the late 1990s and early 2000s were treated by tabloid media, Reid has been part of that reconsideration, alongside figures such as [Britney Spears](https://www.edgepedia.org/britney-spears) and Pamela Anderson.[8](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview)
## References
1. [Tara Reid – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/bio/)
2. [Tara Reed (I) – Full credits, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/fullcredits)
3. [Reid, Tara 1975– , Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/reid-tara-1975)
4. [Tara Reid Interview: "Masha's Mushroom" and Her Party Girl Past, PAPER Magazine](https://www.papermag.com/tara-reid-interview-mashas-mushroom-nicole-kidman)
5. [Taradise Lost: Tara Reid's Sharknado Comeback, TIME (Sam Lansky, 2014)](https://time.com/3056050/tara-reid-sharknado-2/)
6. [Tara Reid, NNDB](https://www.nndb.com/people/385/000026307/)
7. [Tara Reid – Actress, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/tara-reid/)
8. [Tara Reid On 'Special Forces,' 90s Nostalgia, & Body Shaming, Bustle](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tara-reid-special-forces-90s-nostalgia-interview)
9. [Q&A with Tara Reid, 303 Magazine (2014)](https://303magazine.com/2014/08/qa-with-tara-reid/)
10. [Tara Reed, AlegsaOnline](https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/131600)
11. [Tara Reid 2017: Career Context, Projects, and Public Profile](https://media.newsreview.com/article/tara-reid-2017-career-context-projects-and-public-profile)
12. [Sharknado 2: Everything You Need to Know, TIME (2014)](https://time.com/3057837/sharknado-2-everything-you-need-to-know/)
13. [Tara Reid says she plays her role seriously in the Sharknado movies, UPI (2014)](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2014/07/27/Tara-Reid-says-she-plays-her-role-seriously-in-the-Sharknado-movies/9751406076455/)
14. [Tara Reid Created a Perfume Called 'Shark', TIME (2014)](https://time.com/3066963/tara-reid-shark-perfume/)
15. [Tara Reid reflects on being 'bullied a lot', Fox News (2023)](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/tara-reid-reflects-being-bullied-a-lot-being-seen-as-party-girl-american-pie)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Q to Ri*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license