After landing her breakthrough role as both Hallie and Annie in the hit movie “The Parent Trap”, everyone predicted a bright future for the young Lindsay Lohan.
The sweet, freckled red-haired girl charmed millions with her smile – but as her celebrity status grew, Lindsay began to lose her grip.
After achieving childhood stardom in Hollywood, her name came to be associated with scandals, heavy partying and rehabilitation.
Lindsay Lohan got her big break with The Parent Trap, which premiered in 1998 and instantly became a huge box-office success.
The film would change Lindsay’s life for ever – but it was far from the first time she appeared in front of a camera.
Chaotic childhood
Lindsay Lohan was born in 1986, in the borough of New York City Bronx, New York. However, she grew up on Long Island, New York, with her three younger siblings. Her father worked as a Wall Street trader, while her mother is a former dancer and singer.
All of her siblings have either become models or actors – Lindsay’s younger brother, for example, can also be seen in “The Parent Trap”.
Lindsay’s childhood was turbulent and often chaotic. Her parents, Michael and Dina, separated when she was only three years old – but soon got together again.
”I grew up in a very chaotic home and there were moments of everything being just wonderful and perfect and then things being so uncontrollable and chaotic,” Lindsay told Oprah Winfrey in 2013.
In 2005, her parents broke up again, and their divorce was finalized in 2007.
First gigs
As a 3-year-old, Lohan started her career as a child model. She began working for the Ford modeling agency, at a time when almost every company wanted cute, blue-eyed, blonde children.
Lindsay had freckles and fiery red hair – so she faced tough competition. In fact, she was the first red-headed girl to be signed by the famous modeling agency. Her charm, green eyes and unique look made her irresistible; over the years, she came to appear in over 60 television commercials for big brands like Pizza Hut and Wendy’s.
At an early age, Lindsay quickly earned a reputation and appeared in famous magazines including Vogue and Elle – her face was basically everywhere.
When she turned 10, Lindsay was cast as Alexandra “Alli” Fowler on the soap opera ”Another World” where ”she delivered more dialogue than any other 10-year-old in daytime serials today”, according to Filmbug.
Prior to turning 11, Lindsay was already a veteran of showbiz. But it would come at a high price, according to her father Michael.
“She was forced to grow up too quickly,” he said.
Lindsay Lohan movies
In 1998, Lindsay landed the role that almost everybody knows and loves. Her portrayal of the dynamic identical twin sisters in Disney’s “The Parent Trap” turned Lindsay into a global celebrity over night.
There was fierce competition for the dual roles of Hallie and Annie Parker. More than 1,500 youngsters applied for the job, including respected names such as Scarlett Johansson and Mara Wilson.
In the movie, a body double was used for scenes that included both twins. Lindsay’s performance was highly praised, and she won the Young Artist Award for her portrayal of the twins.
“I didn’t feel like I was working, it just felt like a really incredible learning experience for me and a lot of fun,” Lindsay told People.
Lindsay’s own situation at home helped her a lot in playing the role of Hallie and Annie. In the film, the siblings are trying to reunite their parents.
“My parents were kind of separating at the time when this was all going on. And it made it a lot easier for me to play these characters that were figuring it out,” Lindsay told People.
The success of “The Parent Trap” opened many doors for Lindsay. Thereafter, she landed several roles in blockbuster Disney films – many probably remember her in “Freaky Friday” (2003) and “Herbie: Fully Loaded” (2005).
Lindsay herself has repeatedly pointed out the significance of ”The Parent Trap” and how it created a lot of opportunities in Hollywood.
”Without this movie, I wouldn’t have gotten the acting bug. How do you not want to only act for the rest of your life after doing a film like this?” she said.
Lindsay Lohan downfall
In the movie “Mean Girls” (2007) Lindsey Lohan showed that she had mastered more mature roles. The high school comedy was a success, gaining Lindsay a new audience, outside of Disney. The film premiered a few days before her 18th birthday and many now thought that a new era awaited Lindsay as a grown-up movie star.
Bu Lindsay had a hard time following up the success of “Mean Girls”. She featured in some mediocre films, and her focus instead ended up on something completely different …
Soon, she would become more known for her multiple run-ins with police and rehab spells …
As Lindsay’s fame grew, she began spending more time at nightclubs in New York. The newspapers also revealed that her father had been in prison and the tabloids reveled in Lindsay’s personal problems.
It all culminated in 2007, when Lindsay was arrested and convicted twice. The that same year she went into rehab.
According to herself, she was an ”addict”, and drinking became a way to escape her problems.
Between 2007 and 2012, she spent 250 days in different rehab facilities. After a while, people forgot about movies and just read about her brushes with the law. Lindsay had a very hard time getting rid of her addiction and was also sentenced to prison on different occasions, after arrests for theft and assault.
Moving from United States
When Lindsay turned 30, she began to distance herself from the United States. After decades in the spotlight, she decided to spend more time in her home in Dubai. People still recognized her there, but the country’s strict privacy laws kept the papparazzi away.
“It’s the safest place. It’s less demanding. America is always like, ‘Go go go go go!’” she told the New York Times.
“I don’t have to turn on the news and see about the Kardashians. I don’t have to see anything anymore. I choose what I want to see and how I want to live.”
Two years ago, Lindsay also revealed that she had opened a beach club on the Greek paradise island of Mykonos.
“There’s a business side to my life now, but I’m not in America, so no one knows about it, which is nice for me. Because I get to actually focus on the result of things,” she told the New York Times.
The place, called “Lohan Beach House club”, also became a reality television series that ran from January 8 to March 25, 2019 on MTV. According to the latest reports, the beach club is now closed.
Lindsay Lohan 2020
In recent years, Linday Lohan has obviously taken a step back, repeatedly declaring that the public never got to know the real Lindsay Lohan.
“I’m a normal, nice person. A good person. I don’t have any bad intentions. And my past has to stay in the past. People have to just let go of it and stop bringing it up because it’s not — it’s gone. It’s dead. And that’s the most important thing to me,” she says.
In the beginning of 2020, she decided to move back to the United States.
”I’m managing my sister, so I want to really focus on me and everything that I can do in my life and come back to America and start filming again, which I’m doing something soon in this new year. And, you know, just taking back the life I’ve worked so hard for and sharing it with my family and you guys,” Lindsay told People.
In March, she starred in her new movie ”Among The Shadows”. That was Lindsay Lohan’s first feature film since 2013. And, in September last year, she released her first single in 11 years, and it seemed that she was looking forward to the future.
“The future is bright! let us all give love, light and peace ♥ ️? ”, Lindsay Lohan wrote on her Instagram account.
So maybe it’s time for a new era, far from the scandalous headlines we associate upon hearing her name?
“I want people to know me for the work that I’m doing, not for this party girl image, which is just vile and disgusting and not fair, because I work so hard,” Lindsay said.
I must say that I am happy to see how Lindsay Lohan is doing today.
Hopefully she can put the hardships behind her and find harmony and balance in life. It’s never easy to become a star when you’re only a child, we have seen several examples of this.
But Lindsay has fought her way back and seems ready to do something good and valuable on the platform she has created. Good luck in the future Lindsay and thanks for all the movies and memories!