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And then, something happened. Reid was young, stunning and famous; and the media began taking more of an interest in her after-hours role as Hollywood’s resident party girl; largely ignoring her talent and her work ethic. Unlike most of us, Reid’s young adult days and nights were captured by paparazzi for the world to see. During our interview she is quick to point out that, at the very least, mercifully, social media had not yet been invented. Thank God for small favors. A painful public breakup with then-fiancé Carson Daly and a bout with botched plastic surgery further spun Reid’s public narrative out of control. She recently told E! news, “They almost make a cartoon character out of you, and they keep going with it,” referring to the rampant tabloid journalism of the 2000s. The experience sent Reid reeling, and into a self-imposed media exile where she learned to reflect, regroup, and re-emerge focused on her craft, and with a healthy sense of humor as she displays in her willingness to embrace the camp genre with the Sharknado film series. In addition to working in front of the camera, she’s added film producer to her resume, with an upcoming slate of releases under her production banner, Hi Happy Films. As women in our forties, Tara Reid and I discuss the power of knowing oneself and becoming unflappable in the face of life’s inevitable ebbs and flows. Smart, soulful, and creative, Tara Reid has reclaimed her power and found her most valuable commodity: peace of mind. Allison Kugel: You were just working on a film with DMX before he passed. Tara Reid: Yeah, a movie called Doggmen. It’s his last film and it was really interesting, because he didn’t get to finish the whole film. They had to do what they did with Paul Walker (in his last Fast & Furious role). They make these facial sculptures and they put it on a face, and it looks exactly like [DMX]. It’s crazy. AK: Like CGI? TR: No, it’s literally a face they make and put on. The last couple of scenes that he has to film, that will be what they are doing. It’s incredible and it looks so real. It looks just like him. So, that is how they are going to film his last scenes, and I’ll be in those scenes with him. AK: What is that going to feel like for you, to do that? TR: I think everyone was absolutely broken by DMX’s [death]. He wasn’t just a great rapper, but he was a poet. I think he was one of the best rappers of our time, and this movie explains that. The last person that really did that was Tupac. I think it will be a great film. He’s a great actor, he’s a voice, and that mattered a lot to him. I think he will be really happy about how this movie comes out and looks. It’s DMX, and just to be a part of that history with him is pretty much incredible. AK: When he was on set, did he seem healthy? Did he seem happy? TR: I never saw him on set. The movie started before I started working. I was due [on set]at the end of the movie. Then, unfortunately, that is when he passed. I actually never got to do the real scenes with him. AK: Oh man! TR: I’m in the other scenes with the “not real” version of DMX. It’s going to be really interesting, and we are shooting that down in Florida. AK: Oh, wow. I’ll definitely look forward to seeing how they manage to do that when it comes out. TR: I’ll let you come down to the set and you can see how they do it. Allison Kugel: What three events in your life, if you had to narrow it down to three, shaped who you are today? TR: Wow, that is a great question! Well, I guess one of them would be my parents making me, otherwise I wouldn’t be here, so congratulations on that one (laughs)! I think another one would be feeling the force of getting into Hollywood, which is the hardest thing to do, becoming a working actor. AK: What do you mean by “the force?” TR: It’s so hard to make it in Hollywood to begin with. It’s like winning a lottery ticket. To be lucky and fortunate enough to get there was incredible, and then seeing the aftereffects, and everything like that. The third and most painful one was having my