When Tara Reid landed her role on "Days of Our Lives" she was a fresh-faced teen who was just starting out in the entertainment business. As her character Ashley, she came onto the scene as one of Sami's friends. She was also a bad girl who helped Sami escape from the hospital before the local Salem Police Department caught them (via Beth's Days Page via the Internet Archive).

After her stint on "Days of Our Lives" was over, Reid moved on to bigger projects in the entertainment industry. She was just 20 at the time and just a few years before she became a paparazzi target in Hollywood.  Her soap opera role was a short one, but also big enough that land her the role of Bunny Lebowski in the 1998 cult classic "The Big Lebowski."

Reid admits that she had no idea how her life would begin to change soon after she appeared on "Days of Our Lives" and started getting attention from the media. She told Paper magazine that if she could now give advice to her younger self at the time, she'd tell her to stay home. Reid explained that at the time, "I got paparazzied everywhere, everywhere. They were outside my car, they were outside the club. Like I couldn't get away with anything. Everyone was doing the same thing, but I got in trouble for it. So that's why I'd suggest staying home."