Tara Reid reveals the hardest part of filming Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!

A PROSTHETIC hand with a circular saw and stars in cameo roles make Sharknado films easy to shoot, but Tara Reid reveals the toughest part.

A PROSTHETIC hand complete with a circular saw, an endless parade of stars in cameo roles and the continued adoration of fans are the least of the highlights of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! for star Tara Reid.

None of them matched the news that former American Pie star’s discovery that actress Bo Derek was cast as her mother in the third instalment of the so-bad-it’s-good cult schlockbuster.

MORE: Why every star wants to be in Sharknado films

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Q: There is no shortage of cameos in Sharknado 3 — David Hasselhoff, Jerry Springer, the hosts of the US Today Show to name a few, who was your favourite?

A: When I found out Bo Derek was playing my mother I was like — ‘are you kidding me — Bo Derek?’ She’s an icon. I’ve looked up to her my whole life. I’m like — ‘you got Bo Derek to get in Sharknado?’ – what is happening? I thought ‘wow, I’ll take that. It must mean I have some seriously good genes if she’s playing my mum’. She’s a really beautiful person, on the inside as well as the out. She’s calm and intelligent and fun-loving and has a sense of humour and it was just an honour.

Running for her life ... Tara Reid stars in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! Picture: Gene Page/Syfy

Q: Did you have any scenes with “the Hoff’?

A: No, he shoots with Ian (Ziering) and plays his Dad. The thing about Sharknado is that once it’s finished you can end up in scenes with someone you actually shot with, because of the use of CGI and the green screen. The funny thing is during filming we never, ever see a shark. It’s hilarious — it’s just all make-believe sharks. The director is screaming ‘OK the sharks are coming’ and we’re like ‘where are they, where are we looking?’ We are joking ‘what if it’s like the size of a goldfish and we are freaking out?’ We just hope that they fill it with big enough sharks, and enough of them, to match our acting.

Flying sharks ... Ian Ziering portrays Fin Shepard in a scene from Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! Picture: Syfy via AP

Q: In Sharknado 2, your character, April, lost her hand to a shark. How’s that prosthetic working out in Sharknado 3?

A: “It’s this great prosthetic which is so much more than just a circular saw — it’s like the bionic hand now, it can do many things. It’s not just a saw. It becomes a personality of its own. She can do all kinds of things with the hand now. It’s become another weapon.

Q: Surely there are some drawbacks to having a circular saw hand?

A: The big benefit is that you can kill a lot of sharks. I guess the disadvantage might be … well … scratching your nose would be hazardous.

Ryan Newman as Claudia Shepard, left, and Jack Griffo as Billy appear in a scene from Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! Picture: Raymond Liu/Syfy via AP

Q: Is it true you came up with the ‘Oh Hell No’ tagline for this movie?

A: Yeah — it’s true. We were shooting in Orlando and we were joking around on Vine making this video and I was like ‘oh hell no’, and then boom, all of a sudden it’s out there on this Vine, and it becomes a tagline for the film. And then I got Jedward to do a song for the film (the band has a cameo in the movie).

Q: What’s your advice to anyone who gets stuck in a Sharknado?

A: If you ever get stuck I would run for maybe the elevator — try to keep yourself surrounded by walls as much as possible. And if you can … grab a saw ... because everyone just has a chainsaw lying around nearby …”

SHARKNADO 3: OH HELL NO

THURSDAY, 9.30PM, SYFY