Lindsay Lohan Is Launching A Career Comeback—Again!

Clearly talented, Lindsay Lohan has released multiple albums and has been in countless movies that were box office successes. From The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday to Mean Girls, Life Size, and Herbie Fully Loaded, Lohan was once worth $30 million and considered a very talented actress. However, things took a turn for the worse around 2005, when people began to suspect that she was partying too much and using drugs. It wasn’t too long before the chaos in Lilo’s life began to skyrocket. 

Her parents had a public and nasty divorce, and Lindsay struggled with substance abuse issues that led to six stints in rehab and at least six arrests. Movie studios and directors were publicly speaking out against her for being late or never showing up to set. It was around this time that Lilo was seen partying at clubs with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, leading to the infamous photo taken by the paparazzi in which the trio are seen in Paris’ car outside the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2006. During this period, Lindsay was in and out of jail and court-ordered rehab for DUIs, drug possession, physical fights, stealing jewelry, reckless driving, and violations of her probation.

What used to be a beautiful, talented, and successful young woman with a squeaky-clean image turned into a person who was spiraling out of control. Movie studios no longer wanted to hire her because she was too much of a risk. A producer on the set of Georgia Rule famously penned a scathing letter after Lindsay failed to show up to set, in which he stated, “We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called ‘exhaustion.’” He went on to call her discourteous, irresponsible, unprofessional, and “acting like a spoiled child” who has cost them “hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.” Lindsay's co-star Jane Fonda also had to scold her for being late to set.

Lindsay also had a public falling out with her one-time BFF Paris Hilton, and the paparazzi was obsessed with capturing her downfall. One thing that’s remained constant despite all the backlash that’s surrounded her chaotic life – her reputation as a serious and talented actress. Many believe she had the potential for a Golden Globe or Oscar somewhere down the line, had she not fallen down the wrong path.

Oprah’s Intervention

In 2014, Lindsay Lohan had a reality docuseries called Lindsay on the OWN network, in which Oprah took her under her wing and documented Lindsay's attempt to rebuild her career after so much controversy. It explores her newly found sobriety, her publicly admitting for the first time that she’s an addict, and her move from toxic Los Angeles back to New York City. Throughout the series, Lindsay has a life coach and an assistant with whom she repeatedly gets into arguments. She ends up firing her assistant for being unprofessional and feeling like she always had to set aside time for him rather than prioritizing herself. 

She also has a falling out with her life coach after she confronted Lindsay on camera about relapsing by drinking a glass of wine at dinner, leading to her life coach quitting. While this docuseries was supposed to recenter attention on Lindsay in a positive light, show her getting her life together, and how she’s going to launch an acting comeback, this didn’t exactly achieve that. Lindsay halted filming multiple times, and Oprah ended up not renewing it due to poor ratings. Lindsay later explained her reason for halting filming was because she suffered from a miscarriage.

Failed Comebacks and Rebranding

Since her failed comeback attempts in the early 2010s, Lohan has not had a big role in any major movie. She played Elizabeth Taylor in Lifetime’s Liz & Dick, which was a commercial flop, earning a 4/10 on IMDB and 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. This was supposed to be her reintroduction to the spotlight. It sounded great – a role as Elizabeth Taylor with a major network. Unfortunately, the script was lousy, the production was poor, and the performances were questionable. Critics ripped it apart, and if anything, it only did further damage to Lohan’s already tarnished reputation.

Her next major film was The Canyons in 2013, starring alongside porn star-turned-actor James Deen. While the two stirred up curiosity among viewers, it was ultimately deemed another trainwreck. It’s currently sitting at a 3.8 IMDB rating and 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. This low-budget movie was a box office failure, and yet again, was dragged by film critics. However, many who hated the film praised Lohan’s acting performance. Since then, she appeared in a few TV show episodes, such as Glee, 2 Broke Girls, Anger Management, and Sick Note. However, her career in the film industry was essentially nonexistent.

In 2014, she decided to move to London and earned a role in the David Mamet play Speed the Plow which garnered mixed reviews. The move outside the United States seemed to be refreshing and just what she needed, as she said, "I've noticed here, watching the news, you guys have such a different outlook. In the U.S. starting at 5 pm, it's TMZ, it's all these shows talking about people's personal lives, and here I don't notice any of that – it's news and politics and music. So it feels really good to be able to turn on the TV and not everything is about gossip. That's a really nice feeling." Lindsay discussed the possibility of staying in London for good to escape paparazzi culture.

Business Ventures

In 2016, Lindsay Lohan opened a string of nightclubs and day clubs in Athens, Mykonos, and Rhodes. In 2018, she starred in a reality show about her day club in Mykonos called Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club. It centered on her life as a businesswoman and manager, while the staff served as ambassadors for the Lohan brand. While ratings boomed in the beginning, they quickly waned with a lack of screen time from Lohan and a lack of expected drama. It was canceled after one season, and the Beach Club in Mykonos has since been closed. However, Lindsay still has other clubs in various locations and has announced her plans to design her own island in Dubai called “Lohan Island.”

Lindsay Lohan’s Successful Sobriety

Ever since Lindsay moved to Dubai in recent years (Lindsay says she moved in 2014), she seems to have finally found peace and stillness amidst all the chaos. Lindsay chose Dubai due to the country’s strict privacy laws which outlaw paparazzi from following her around. Citing her time living in L.A. and fake friends as a big factor in her poor choices earlier in life, she has completely changed her life around living abroad as an American expat. Recent interviews with the star show a completely changed demeanor. 

Where Lindsay used to evade responsibility and dodge questions about her past, she’s now very transparent about it. She says she essentially lived out her college years on a much larger scale, with cameras surrounding her 24/7 and all of the temptation of earning millions of dollars as a teenager in Los Angeles. However, she takes full responsibility for her actions and has said she realized that because she grew up in a very toxic household, she would sabotage herself whenever things were going well. Lindsay had never publicly admitted to having a substance abuse problem, despite many arrests and court-ordered rehab stays until her 2014 docuseries. Since then, she seems to have moved on and no longer wants to discuss the past, believing it to be a distraction from the present and her potential to revitalize her career.

Lindsay is much healthier now, as she places great importance on routine and spirituality. She loves to cook homemade healthy meals, meditate, exercise, and maintain a very close relationship with everyone in her family. In an interview with Health, she said she meditates for 15 minutes a day and exercises 3-4 times a week as a form of self-care. She hasn’t been in legal trouble or gone back to rehab since 2013 and lives a completely sober lifestyle. Another reason she likes living in Dubai is that people don’t have to drink to have fun. She has maintained a close personal relationship with Oprah and refers to her as a “guiding light” in her life. 

Lindsay’s Newest Comeback, Finding Love, and Ending Feuds

Now that we’ve established that Linday is in a good headspace, completely sober, and has managed to stay out of trouble for many years, is now the perfect time for a career comeback? Well, time will tell, but things seem to be looking up for the star. In 2020, she released new music for the first time since 2005. She previously released two albums, but 15 years later, she’s released a new single called “Back to Me” which addresses her struggles with alcohol and how she’s finally found herself after all these years. A previous track entitled “Xanax” was released through her Instagram but was later deleted. The two tracks received positive reception from fans and critics.

Lindsay is re-entering our television screens with her stage presence in commercials, tv shows, and movies. She became a judge on the Australian version of The Masked Singer for its first season but was unable to return due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. Despite enjoying her privacy and stepping away from the spotlight for many years, she announced in 2019 that she was returning to Hollywood to make yet another acting comeback. Could it be different this time? Perhaps – she’s been cast in a Netflix Christmas romcom that will come out in late 2022. 

While she has appeared in several films in recent years, all have been very low-budget films that flew under the radar. Landing a Netflix gig is a pretty good step in the right direction, especially since she’s struggled to land major acting gigs due to difficulties insuring her. She also released a jewelry line, announced that she got engaged to her fiancé Bader Shammas, and most recently, landed a Planet Fitness ad that aired during the Super Bowl. 

Lindsay Lohan’s relevance is peaking for the first time in many years. She started a podcast, has gotten involved in the NFT and crypto space, and has even made up with her long-time frenemy Paris Hilton. That’s right, Paris and Lindsay’s over 15-year feud has finally come to an end. While no one knows what originally sparked the feud between these once close party friends, the two took turns trashing each other to paparazzi and the media. 

Even in recent years, Paris went on Watch What Happens Live, calling Lindsay “beyond lame” and claiming that she party crashed when asked about the infamous photo of Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears in a car outside of the Beverly Hills Hotel – a photo that’s so iconic it’s referred to as “the holy trinity.” However, Paris says that upon hearing that Lindsay got engaged, she reached out to say congratulations and that was the first step in ending what Paris now calls “immature” fighting and “acting like they’re in high school.” 

Closing Thoughts

The old saying “no press is bad press” never accounted for Lindsay Lohan’s career because this girl has been working overtime for the past 10 years, desperately trying to rehabilitate her image to present herself as a viable actress in Hollywood again. The question is, in the wake of the Free Britney movement and Paris Hilton’s docuseries that revealed the two stars’ struggles in the public eye, is Lindsay Lohan the next former child star to get an image makeover? 

Is there a statute of limitations on “losing your sh*t” as a young celebrity coming of age in Hollywood? Many people have re-examined their preconceived notions about Paris and Britney and been forced to reconsider what part everyone played in their troubles. If even Paris can forgive Lilo, maybe it’s finally time for Hollywood to give her another chance. If you’re also rooting for Lindsay Lohan’s Robert Downey Jr. style redemption arc, you can expect Falling for Christmas to premiere on Netflix in December 2022.

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