Lindsay Lohan, the former child star who became one of the most scrutinized young actresses of the 2000s, has come forward with a raw reassessment of what fame did to her as a teenager.
The 39-year-old, who now lives in Dubai with her husband Bader Shammas and their son Luai, opened up in a new cover story for Vogue Arabia about the years following Mean Girls, when global attention and substance issues consumed her life.
Lohan was just 17 when she filmed the 2004 teen comedy that cemented her status as a household name. What followed, she said, “was all so overwhelming and consuming,” and left her wishing someone would’ve saved her.
Lindsay Lohan opened up about the toll being a teenage star had on her mental and physical wellbeing
Image credits: Vogue Arabia
“I should have listened to my mom and dad and moved back to New York. But I was young and wanted to be in LA. And I didn’t know,” she reflected.
“So yeah, while a lot of it was fun, it was hard when I was young. It was a double-edged sword.”
Image credits: Vogue Arabia
Lohan’s rise began long before Mean Girls. In 1998, she broke out as a child actor in The Parent Trap and steadily built a career that placed her squarely in the center of Hollywood’s spotlight.
But as paparazzi attention intensified and tabloid culture peaked, she found herself living a version of life that felt increasingly disconnected from reality.
“I wasn’t having fun in the business anymore,” she said. “I wasn’t finding roles I loved. It’s not a life I wanted to live, you know? It’s not a real life.”
‘Hot Mess’, Lindsay Lohan photographed by Ellen von Unwerth (2009) pic.twitter.com/BPZgc0y1vL
— la bella vita (@drugproblem) August 8, 2024
The pressure ultimately pushed her to make a drastic decision. In 2014, she relocated to Dubai, distancing herself from Los Angeles and the industry machine that had defined her adolescence.
“It pushed me so far away that I moved to the other side of the world. And I’m so glad I followed my gut,” she said.
“Now I look back and wonder, ‘Why didn’t anyone just go and take me out of there, protect me more?’ You don’t know how to do that yourself when you’re a teenager.”
The actress struggled with substance use and law enforcement through much of the late 2000s and early 2010s
Image credits: Getty/Gregg DeGuire
Lohan’s unraveling became public in 2007, when she was arrested in connection with a suspected DUI incident in May, then arrested again on July 24 in Santa Monica on suspicion of DUI after authorities described a brief pursuit.
Police said illegal stimulants were found during booking, but Lohan publicly denied consuming them.
“I am innocent, did not do dr*gs. They’re not mine,” she said at the time.
Image credits: Getty/Cindy Ord
In 2010, a judge ruled that she had violated probation stemming from her earlier DUI cases because she failed to attend required drinking education classes. She was sentenced to jail.
Standing in court, Lohan said, “I’m not taking this as a joke. It’s my life. It’s my career … I take responsibility for my actions.”
The judge disagreed with her characterization of events and said she had not been taking her obligations seriously.
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The actress’ time in custody was followed by repeated court appearances over probation compliance.
In 2012, she was accused of hitting a pedestrian with her car outside a New York hotel.
Lohan denied the allegation, calling it “a complete lie” and saying, “These false accusations are absurd.” The case added to a growing list of incidents that kept her under legal scrutiny.
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In 2013, as part of a plea deal tied to misdemeanor charges related to a car crash and providing false information to police, she was ordered to complete 90 days in a locked rehabilitation facility.
She later completed the program.
Lohan is experiencing a career resurgence, with streaming platforms casting her in several projects
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For much of the 2010s, Lohan appeared only sporadically in film and television. Her return to mainstream visibility came years later through a series of Netflix romantic comedies, including Falling for Christmas, Irish Wish and Our Little Secret.
By that time, her personal life had also changed.
She began dating Kuwaiti financier Bader Shammas by 2020. The couple got engaged in 2021, married in 2022 and welcomed their son Luai in July 2023.
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As Vogue Arabia noted, Lohan has taken on greater creative control in this new chapter. She has served as an executive producer on recent projects, including 2025’s Freakier Friday.
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“With age comes a different kind of confidence,” she said.
“When I was younger, I wasn’t so comfortable saying how I felt about a character and being involved with the process of it. And I love that part now.”
“I always felt like I had too many people around me and that I was being guided in a different direction,” she added. “And now it feels good to steer my own ship.”
Image credits: Vogue Arabia
Lohan’s fans can look forward to her upcoming appearance in Hulu’s limited thriller series Count My Lies. The actress will star alongside Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington, who is set to play her husband.
The series is expected to premiere in late 2026.
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