Transformation

Perennial party girl and slasher-movie queen Tara Reid is probably more famous for her non-celluloid moments than she is for her acting chops. The quintessential California girl (although born and raised in New Jersey) is constant fodder for the tabs—from her late nights out with friends like Paris Hilton to her high-profile romances with such diverse characters as MTV’s Carson Daly and Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Kyle Boller. But that hasn’t stopped her from getting work. Her blue-eyed blond good looks have appeared in vehicles from McDonald’s commercials to the Coen brothers film The Big Lebowski to the cult sensation American Pie. And they’ve also graced countless laddie-boy magazine covers, in various stages of undress, because, well, she is the ultimate male fantasy. Her petite frame doesn’t put a damper on her obvious fun with fashion. She can rock in her signature heels and tight jeans for a night out or carry couture at major Hollywood bashes. But can she pull off the role of a genius anthropologist in her new film Alone in the Dark? We’ll see if this blonde really has the brains.

1991: Reid in her freshman year at the Professional Children’s School in New York City, where Sarah Michelle Gellar is her classmate