Reid all about rising star Tara

Tara Reid is Hollywood's hottest new pretty blonde totty. From the moment she coolly offered Jeff Bridges oral sex for $1,000 in 1998's The Big Lebowski, she's been one to watch.

Now, at the age of 25, and after a succession of film appearances - Urban Legend, Cruel Intentions, Dr T And The Women - she announces: 'I feel ready for lead roles. I can make it big by the time I'm 30.'

Reid is certainly enjoying the benefits of a booming bank account, thanks to her role as the sexually aware Vicky in American Pie and the forthcoming American Pie 2. That success has helped pay for a new home in LA and a Porsche in the driveway.

There is also this week's Josie And The Pussycats, in which she plays a member of an all-girl rock band with other twentysomething likely girls Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson. 'With me, what you see is what you get,' she says. What you get is glitzy style, Gucci clothes, a slightly husky New Jersey accent, and knowing, moist blue eyes. More spice than sugar.

Reid is also calculating about the sort of sacrifices needed to make it in Hollywood, where they so swiftly become bored with each new kid in town. 'This is the year of growth for me,' she says. 'I am focusing 100 per cent on my career, with no distractions.'

Her most recent distraction, an admiring fianc? - MTV presenter Carson Daly - has been cast aside just weeks before their summer wedding. 'He was always questioning me about this and that and, in the end, I could hardly breathe,' she admits. 'So I moved out a couple of months ago and got a place of my own. It's over.

'I felt that I was too young to marry and it just wasn't right. My choice is my career now, and I feel as free as a bird. And if I do start dating again, I will never go for another entertainer. I need someone who understands the business side of it.'

If Tara sounds a pretty tough cookie underneath that stunning exterior, then that's the truth of it. She was just the same when moving to LA as an 18-year-old, on the strength of appearing in a few children's television game-shows and commercials.

'I was one of those kids who had a dream that if they go to Hollywood, they are going to make it as a movie star,' she admits. 'I have been in 15 movies since and feel as if I've done my homework now. I've taken my baby steps and learned to walk. Now I'm ready to run.'