| from his mind. Armed with a personal
assistant and a coterie of admirers, Van
has reached the status of living legend
on campus, throwing bashes that make
geeks popular, raise money for charity
and generally "inspire the
uninspired."When Van's father refuses to
pay any more of his son's tuition bills,
Van must turn to party planning for
profit in order to continue living in
undergraduate bliss, thereby becoming
the subject of an exposé by disapproving
school journalist Gwen Pearson (Reid).
For Reid, who found success in
American Pie, doing another teen
comedy was not a risk, the 27-year old
actress insists. "I don't think it's a
risk at all. I play the straight girl,
which is probably good for me right now.
She's a journalist, which I wanted to
play because I do in that story what
they did to me, except I, at the end,
make it up. The first time, I write a
bad story about [Van]. I know it's gonna
sell [newspapers] and it does! It's big,
it's the cover and everyone's making a
big deal about it, but I pegged Van
wrong. Then I redeem myself and I write
a good article." In the film, Reid
explores an ambitious side to this
character, which the actress feels "was
very important to me, because it was a
big part of what I am going through
right now." Born in the small New
Jersey town of Wyckoff, Reid recalls her
initial love affair with the movies. "As
a little kid I would sit in the mirror
and make faces and when I would cry I'd
watch myself cry. I was just fascinated
imitating people and making up stories
to see if people would believe them. If
they did I was excited. Acting is my
escape, my getaway. My therapy and my
boxing bag. Without that, I would go
crazy." It's that need to escape that
will help the actress put to rest the
media intrusion into her private life.
"I just need to get back to work and go
somewhere like France. I need to do a
movie like 'Lord of The Rings',
and spend three years in Australia; that
would be perfect for me. Sign me up now
and find me a period piece for 17 years
somewhere; I'll be just fine," she
smiles. |
