Tara in ‘Sharknado’ just for the funny

OH THE HORROR: Tara Reid returns in the disaster movie, Sharknado 2: The Second One.

OH THE HORROR: Tara Reid returns in the disaster movie, Sharknado 2: The Second One.

Published Aug 4, 2014

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WE CAN ridicule B movies all we like – but there is a fan base out there. And that explains why these offerings continue to pervade the market.

This brings us to Sharknado, with model-actress Tara Reid and Ian Ziering among the leads. The premise revolved around a freak hurricane hitting Los Angeles. This natural disaster causes man-eating sharks to flood the city and, well, you can imagine the battle for survival that raged on thereafter.

But in case we didn’t get enough of the shark fest, a second instalment has hit our small screen. This time Vivica A Fox joins the madness, with airborne sharks striking terror in LA.

In a press conference for the sequel, Reid recalled why she agreed to do the movies.

She said: “The first time I heard about it was when they offered me the movie and I said, ‘What kind of name is Sharknado for a movie? I’m not going to read this’.

“You know, it is silly. When I read it I laughed so hard it was so funny, and I said: ‘You know what, actually, I am going to do this movie’.”

As for the premise of the follow-on film, in which her character, April Wexler, is back with her husband Finley “Finn” Shepard (Ziering) and on a flight when disaster strikes, she shared: “Oh I was laughing, it was so funny. I mean the whole concept of sharks flying in the sky, killing people in LA is crazy. It… was so funny because you’re like, ‘This can’t happen!’ It was always funny to me from the very beginning.”

On her character’s evolvement (if we can actually call it that), she revealed: “She’s more active. She gets tougher in this one.”

Recalling her favourite memory on set, she said: “It was shooting in New York City. It’s such an amazing place to shoot in. Just having the set on the streets where I grew up was very nostalgic.”

In case her trail of seriously mediocre to bad movies (American Pie, My Boss’s Daughter) don’t speak volumes for her career choices or acting potential, she has added to her list.

“My next film is called Charlie’s Farm. It’s a very scary horror-thriller movie.”

Ironically enough, she adds, “My ambition is just to find a good script and a good role that I want to enjoy making and see what happens.”

Although she is hopeful of working with Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg, perhaps she should expand her range from “fun”. Playing yourself (or a close enough version) isn’t talented – it is a reality show (with a script and time limit). Just saying!

 

• Sharknado 2: The Second One airs on Studio Universal (DStv channel 112) on Friday, August 15 at 11.05pm. Explora viewers can view it on catch up.

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