Between getting arrested multiple times for multiple crimes, moving out of the country,
getting called out by Oprah and starring in two of her own reality TV shows, you won't
believe what Lindsay Lohan has been through. Lindsay Lohan was born in New York in 1986 to
Michael and Dina Lohan and grew up in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. According to The New York
Times, Dina had worked as an apprentice with the Rockettes, went to the American Ballet Theater,
and worked in Off-Broadway productions. Michael was a trader on Wall Street.
From a young age, Lindsay Lohan was immersed in show business. During a 2020 interview on
Dina's podcast, The OG Mama D, Lohan's mother recalled how Lindsay's dance career began when
she was just a toddler accompanying her mother as she taught dance classes throughout Long Island
and Manhattan. She particularly recalled how two year-old Lindsay loved interacting with mirrors.
Lindsay also started doing her own makeup
from a young age. In the same podcast episode, she shared,
"When I was younger, I was so nervous about my freckles. I would get so shy,
and I hated them 'cause no one had freckles around me. And I felt like, ugly."
That freckle-faced toddler eventually became more comfortable in her own skin. At only
3 years of age, Lindsay's parents got her a contract at Ford Models. Then came print ads,
magazines, and commercials. She booked her first television gigs in the early '90s, including an
appearance on Late Night with David Letterman as a trick-or-treating pile of trash. Lohan also
appeared on Sesame Street, and two soap operas. Lindsay Lohan's appearance in the 1998 remake of
The Parent Trap made an impression on kids and families everywhere. Lohan used her skills to
convincingly play both Annie and Hallie, just as Hayley Mills played both Sharon and Susan
decades earlier. Millennials were raised on the sweet story of twins who first meet at camp and
initially detest each other. They eventually become so close that they're determined to
bring their divorced parents, played by Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson, back together.
Lohan told Rolling Stone,
"I left school for eight months. When I came back, my friends were like, 'Where'd you go?' I said,
'My family and I went on a long vacation.' Then the movie came out, and they were like,
'Um, Lindsay? That's you in Parent Trap.'"
As the rising star adjusted to her newfound fame,
she couldn't have known how special her debut film would be more than two decades later.
In July 2020, Katie Couric hosted a Parent Trap reunion to raise funds for World Central
Kitchen. Dennis Quaid complimented Lohan on her acting, especially her British accent.
She revealed that she'd done her first-ever screen test at age 11 and that making the film
helped her through her own parents' separation. Distinguished director Nancy Meyers praised the
entire cast at the reunion, but shouted out Lindsay Lohan specifically. before saying,
"And also, L.L. We discovered a big star, you know, we discovered somebody
that everybody fell in love with." In 2000, Life-Size premiered on ABC's
"The Wonderful World of Disney." Lindsay Lohan played Casey Stuart, a tween football player
who accidentally brings to life a doll named Eve, played by Tyra Banks, while trying to reincarnate
her deceased mother. Lohan was only 13 when the world first heard Eve sing "Be A Star". The unique
family movie found additional audiences on the Disney Channel and through home video sales.
In 2019, Lohan chatted with Entertainment Weekly about where some of her iconic
characters would be as adults. She mused that her Life-Size character
would be in Texas in a relationship with a professional football player.
"And Casey would be friends with, like, Giselle and Tom Brady.
And have, like, kids' parties together."
Lohan was called on to help celebrate Walt Disney's birthday in 2001. The 15-year-old
reprised her beloved Parent Trap roles for interstitial footage filmed at Walt Disney
World. She kept spreading that Disney magic, and a year later, Lohan starred in another 2000s hit:
the Disney Channel Original Movie, Get a Clue. Lohan and on-screen bestie Brenda
Song become Manhattan fashionistas and amateur detectives. What's more,
The Little Rascals actor Bug Hall also made an appearance in the film.
Much like her Get a Clue character, Lindsay Lohan embraced early-2000s styles and culture. She
also embraced many of the things teenagers do, like hanging out with her friends and siblings,
and watching American Idol. She confirmed in an interview with IGN that she followed
the show fairly closely, and blogged about it on her website, LLRocks.com.
The world saw Lohan with a punky edge in her return to Disney theatrical films.
She played rock 'n roll musician Anna Coleman in 2003's Freaky Friday remake. She performed
opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, who played her mother, and Chad Michael Murray,
who was the love interest no one could forget. The movie was a comeback of sorts for Lohan,
who had been going to regular high school between Disney films, as she told IGN.
At 16, Lohan's versatility once again shined on the screen. While
inhabiting the psyche of both a mom and a daughter, the actor showcased her singing
skills and picked up the guitar. In a behind-the-scenes featurette,
Lohan shared that she always found it tough to leave after filming wrapped, saying,
"You really confide in these people a lot, and you get to know them really well. It's
hard to just leave people and wonder if you're ever gonna see them again."
By 2004, Lindsay Lohan's "It Girl" glow was fully activated. She scored
another Disney theatrical project in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,
a psychedelic display of music, dance, and the mind of Mary, a.k.a. Lola,
Steppe. You can't go wrong with Megan Fox as your popular-girl archnemesis, either.
Mere months later, Lohan struck gold with yet another high school flick. Mean Girls became a
cultural institution, with Lohan's portrayal of Cady Heron going down in history as one of her
best-loved performances. The huge role could be considered a happy twist of fate since,
Lohan was originally interested in playing Regina George. However,
according to Vulture, her fame demanded that she take the lead.
After turning 18, Lohan released her first studio album, Speak. Music executive Tommy
Mottola told the Los Angeles Times in 2004 that the record was exceptional,
and that he believed Lohan had the musical talent to surpass many of the other stars
he'd worked with. Lohan gave the outlet a long list of musical influences, including
Gwen Stefani, Journey, Pat Benatar, Madonna, and Coldplay. One of the tracks on the record,
"Rumors" was written about her struggle with the paparazzi's invasiveness at the time.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Lindsay Lohan's Speak sold 2 million copies by 2005.
Her song "First" was featured on the soundtrack for Herbie Fully Loaded, the final Disney family
film she starred in, in the early 2000s. The actor reportedly partied frequently during this time,
and while shooting the movie, she suffered a fever and exhaustion that landed her in the hospital,
according to People. The outlet claimed that before their breakup,
Wilmer Valderrama of That '70s Show stayed with Lohan at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Recording an album and simultaneously filming a movie didn't leave the celeb with much
rest time. In a 2005 interview, Lohan told The Los Angeles Times,
"I can never sleep because I'm always thinking about what I can be working on next,
going over ideas, writing stuff down. I push myself, and I don't want to disappoint people.
I just want to give everything I can, and it's a lot of pressure."
While the star dealt with work pressures, her public family troubles were mounting. In
January 2005, Dina Lohan filed for divorce, according to E! News. UPI noted that the
separation came after Michael Lohan violated a restraining order put in place by Dina.
The splintering of the Lohan family was a long and painful process that followed Lindsay into
the recording studio as she made her next album. In fall 2005, Lindsay Lohan released her second
album. Titled A Little More Personal (Raw), it featured the revelatory lead single,
"Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter To Father)". According to CBS News, Michael Lohan
was incarcerated in June 2005. The charges brought against him were, quote: "attempted assault in
the second degree and aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle in the first degree".
Though these charges were supposedly separate from his immediate familial issues,
Lindsay suggested that Michael was also abusive at home. Her music video displays herself and
her real-life sister, Aliana, privately suffering while the actor portraying their
father is abusive toward the actor playing their mother. Lohan, who directed the video,
confirmed with MTV that many of the events that occur in the video actually happened.
After releasing her record, Lohan rose above the turmoil to shoot another movie. She starred
opposite Chris Pine in the charming romantic comedy, Just My Luck. The star told E! News,
"It's an older character for me. It's something new. She's 23, and it's kind of nice to step out
of just being in the high school age group. I love the fact that I got to dress a bit
more sophisticated and kind of tap into the fashion side of it all because I love fashion."
Though this was a worthy moment in Lohan's career, the film isn't
necessarily heralded as one of her best. In addition to Just My Luck, Lindsay Lohan
also appeared in the 2006 films, Bobby and A Prairie Home Companion. Her Prairie Home
co-star Meryl Streep praised Lohan's performance in Vanity Fair, explaining,
"She has a quality that is really unusual in actors,
and that is that she is very present and alive, almost preternaturally alive, on camera."
As she transitioned from her teen years to her 20s, Lohan was sued over an October
2005 car accident. The Hollywood Reporter states that she went to
rehab in both January and May 2007. The star was still working steadily on feature films,
but her personal life was a hindrance. People reported that Lohan ran into
trouble while filming Georgia Rule in Summer 2006. Reportedly, the production company's
CEO criticized her for truancy on set and what he called "heavy partying."
In an interview with People, Lohan confirmed that she was partying quite a bit at the time.
She later had to pause filming on I Know Who Killed Me due to her appendectomy. Tabloids
were busy rounding up all the controversy surrounding Lohan between 2005 and 2007,
including her eating disorder. She told Vanity Fair that she was
determined to help others through similar situations. She explained that the health
struggles and adversity she's faced made her stronger, and inspired her to better herself.
"There's going to be a lot of steps that I have to go through to, kind of,
prove myself again, and get the trust from people that I respect to work with."
According to CNN, Lindsay Lohan went back to rehab in summer 2007 after being arrested for
drunk driving and cocaine possession. People reported that Lohan spoke out in a statement
admitting to her addiction and the harm it caused her and other people. She elaborated, saying,
"Recently, I relapsed and did things for which I am ashamed. I broke the law, and today I took
responsibility by pleading guilty to the charges in my case. [...] I very much want to be healthy
and gain control of my life and career and have asked for medical help in doing so."
Aside from a guest arc on Ugly Betty, Lohan's work slowed in 2008 while she navigated her personal
life. She filmed Labor Pains and stood out to Rick Schwartz, the film's producer, who told
Harper's Bazaar her performance was admirable and that she lived up to every commitment she made.
Lohan began dating DJ Samantha Ronson and enjoyed a more low-key existence watching Gossip Girl,
in true '08 fashion. She confirmed Howard Stern's suspicion that sadly,
people judged her while she dated Ronson, whom she said she was "more best friends" with back then.
In 2009, Lindsay Lohan had missed required court appearances and education courses,
so an extension was placed on her probation. Crime Museum reports that, after being targeted
by members of the Bling Ring, the star spent time in a jail cell adjacent to one of the
people who robbed her. Into the 2010s, Lohan and the law still did not see eye to eye. Along with
more rehab, the celeb served additional time behind bars for her issues with addiction,
a shoplifting incident, missed psychotherapy sessions and community service hours. It wasn't
until 2012 that her reports were more promising, though that year wasn't perfect, either.
Lohan's then-publicist stated that,
"She is ready to start the next chapter in her
life and get back to work and doing what she loves to do — making movies."
After her legal troubles were somewhat squared away, Lohan did indeed return
to set. She appeared on Glee, and starred as Elizabeth Taylor in the film Liz & Dick
alongside Grant Bowler. She also began working on the Hollywood drama-thriller, The Canyons.
She even began to make light of the dramatic publicity she'd garnered over the previous years.
"Ohhhh bike jacking. It starts with bike jacking, guess where it ends."
"You're in Malibu, at rehab."
While working on The Canyons, Lohan told The New York Times that she had missed
acting deeply. She went on to say that she planned to work as much as possible,
then do some traveling on the other side of the world. Lohan also considered pursuing
a directorial career. Unfortunately, she was reportedly late and uncooperative during parts
of the shoot for The Canyons, and the film did not land with critics or audiences.
Spring and summer 2013 saw Lindsay Lohan return to rehab. According to Crime Museum,
this time the charges were for "reckless driving and lying to law enforcement." Following her
time in rehabilitation, Lohan's probation continued until May 2015. Upon completion,
Lohan tweeted a statement of gratitude to those who made it possible for her
to fulfill her community service requirement and expressed her optimism toward the future.
Before finishing her community service hours, Lohan decided to share her experiences through
a very public format, appearing for an interview with Oprah in 2013. When Oprah
inquired about whether Lohan was an addict, she confirmed that she was addicted to alcohol.
"That, in the past, was a gateway to other things, for me."
The star continued her relationship with the talk show host by starring in a docuseries
for OWN in 2014. She moved into a New York City apartment, worked with a life coach,
and went about her daily life. The spotlight proved to be invasive, though.
In the docuseries, she explained that, while she really did desire to be portrayed as more
down to earth in the media, there were still aspects of her private life that she wanted to
keep private. Even still, she felt pressured to address those topics while being filmed. This
seems to have been a time of self-reflection for Lindsay Lohan, who was closing in on freedom.
Around the time that her OWN docuseries aired, Lindsay Lohan took a page out of
her former character Annie James' book and moved to London, England. She told
The Guardian that she could go out in public more regularly there, and that by the hour
she usually wakes up in London her friends in New York would still be awake partying
from the night before. She saw the new city as the perfect setting to, quote, "grow up."
Life across the pond agreed with Lohan, who pondered a more permanent move there.
She eagerly tried something new with a stage role in Speed-the-Plow, and she
told The New York Times her nightly presence on stage provided her with a sense of peace.
She shared the joys of her anonymity in the United Kingdom,
lamenting that L.A. churned out gossip as daily news. She explained to The Guardian,
"I love the BBC. I haven't heard myself mentioned
on TV since I have been here. That has been really weird for me, and great."
The actor fondly recalled Annie James' British accent in The Parent Trap as she shared her wishes
to perform in more plays while in London. Lindsay Lohan was reportedly engaged to Egor
Tarabasov when she celebrated her 30th birthday in 2016 with him and her pals on the island of
Mykonos in Greece. According to E! News, Tarabasov was physically abusive toward Lohan on this trip,
as well as at other points throughout their relationship. As she dealt with the trauma,
she chose to buy the beach and reclaim what it meant to her. She told the New York Times,
"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."
Lohan Beach House on Mykonos became the setting of the star's MTV reality series,
Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club. According to Page Six,
she opened the club in 2018 but was not renewed for a second season of the reality show;
she shared in a since-deleted Instagram post that the club would be moved somewhere else.
The star also became a proud resident of Dubai,
where she's enjoyed a relatively quiet existence. She told Emirates Woman in 2018
that relocating to Dubai gave her another chance to start over, and a holistic one,
at that. She expressed that the local people have been extremely welcoming, and she's thoroughly
enjoyed immersing herself into the local culture and spiritual belief systems of the area.
In fall 2019, Lindsay Lohan was a judge on the inaugural season of The Masked Singer Australia.
Lohan was unable to judge subsequent seasons, but she was ready to continue exploring her interests
in the entertainment industry, including more music. After releasing her 2020 single
"Back to Me", she tweeted that the song was about self-acceptance and living in the present moment.
2020 was filled with television and film reunions via Zoom, and Lohan embraced her
former roles. She appeared with castmates and host Katie Couric in reunions for The
Parent Trap and Mean Girls. In the latter get-together, Lohan reflected on the many
legacies the film left on fans, including the unofficial holiday, "Mean Girls Day."
Lohan has also gotten wind of other trends,
even jumping on Instagram and TikTok to join fans in celebrating her iconic roles.
"Yes, you want to know the difference between us? I have class and you don't."
For fans with five hundred dollars to burn,
Lohan is up for creating personalized greetings on Cameo.
However, viewers can also catch her on screen once again. She lit up the 2022
Super Bowl with her Planet Fitness commercial, and she filmed a Netflix
Christmas movie called Falling for Christmas scheduled to come out in 2022. In real life,
Lindsay Lohan has fallen for her fiance, financier Bader Shammas.
Her comeback reflects Lindsay Lohan now — being herself and doing work that she loves.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues,
help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).