Six years ago, Lindsay Lohan was a redheaded ingenue, headlining a funkily twisted teen comedy written by embryonic supergenius Tina Fey. Lohan was already a Disney sweetheart, but Mean Girls seemed to announce her arrival as a major teen megastar. Almost instantly, everything went sour: Within a year, Lohan had gone blonde, and was beginning a four-way tango with the paparazzi, the L.A. club scene, and the criminal justice system. (In a weird way, Mean Girls anticipated all of this: her character goes from being a spunky outsider to a much-despised popular girl. So basically, Lindsay Lohan is to Mean Girls as Orson Welles is to Citizen Kane.) This summer, Lohan was released early from jail, and then rehab. In an interview from the new cover story of Vanity Fair, Lohan says, “I was irresponsible,” and compares her frantic last half-decade to living her college life in public. The question remains: Can Lindsay Lohan’s career ever really recover?
Short answer: yes, with an if. No career is ever really over. Mickey Rourke apparently spent 20 years living in a swamp, but he was propelled back into the mainstream by Robert Rodriguez, who gave the actor a redefining role in Sin City. Lohan is appearing in Rodriguez’s new film Machete as a gun-toting nun, which makes more sense than Just My Luck 2. If Lohan can reinvent herself, then she might start filling theaters again.
Long answer: no, with a but. It’s almost impossible to imagine a director like Robert Altman wanting to work with Lohan again. Heck, it’s hard to even imagine that any marketing department would put Lohan in a movie preview. Lohan wasn’t just a tabloid fixture: she was also the star of the some of the worst movies ever made (one of which provided us with the best PopWatch post ever). As excited as I am for Machete, it’s weird to think that, at the age of 24, Lohan is already getting the kind of cult-fetish role that Rourke was getting in his 50s. It seems to announce the beginning of a meta-phase of her career. (Same goes for the rumored biopic about Linda Lovelace. Come on, people, they even have the same initials!) Not that there’s anything wrong with playing a tabloid-ish version of yourself, but in Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, and even Bobby, Lohan was playing real characters. She was an actress. In the interview, Lohan says that she wants to be an actress again, and “if that takes not going out to a club at night, then so be it.” Let’s hope she’s telling the truth.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Can Lindsay Lohan become a true movie star again? Is it weird that, as my colleagues Keith Staskiewicz and Emily Exton pointed out, every other actress in Mean Girls has a more viable career now than Lohan? (Okay, maybe not Lacey Chabert, but that’s a different PopWatch post.)
Read more:
Lindsay Lohan: 18 Highs and Lows
Lindsay Lohan released early from rehab
Lindsay Lohan on her legal woes: ‘This too shall pass’
Lunchtime Poll: Lindsay Lohan meets an enemy in prison?
Lindsay Lohan’s sentencing: How the tearful live-feed made me rethink my position on a troubled young actress
She needs to get away from her entire family – all of them – and be alone for a while and figure out who she is.
I’m pulling for her. I remember her on “Another World” a million years ago and I think she can be great when she wants to be.
I’m gonna speak for myself and everybody else in that I’m sick of her. I’m sick of her being on the news, I’m sick of her in magazines, I’m sick of her playing the blame card, I’m sick of her claiming she doesn’t have any problems.
She needs to go the hell away, give people time to miss her, then come back and attempt a career resuscitation.
End of discussion.
If it’s true that she was misdiagnosed as having ADHD and the meds they put her on affect brain chemistry and she shouldn’t have been on them, then perhaps getting off those meds can lead her to straightening her life out. She needs to do small roles and excel at them, before even thinking about any major starring roles. Like RDJ, she could revive her career as she has been “punished,” but unlike RDJ she isn’t nearly as talented nor as beloved before her fall. She can save her career, but it won’t be over night.
First of all “She” does not have the talent that RDJ had which helped RDJ. Second she just needs to go away forever of course her “mother” could never let that happen as Lindsay is her meal ticket. Like Eric said I am sick of her. As for her new “acting” role she is jumping the shark. the only gig she can get is playing a junkie porn star – what talent do you need for that besides taking her clother off. They could get anyone hooker walking the street to do this. Actually all the “recent” young talent has no class whats so ever. Again they are just glorified street walkers.
Can Lohan’s career be saved? No.
Gosh, I love easy questions! Gimme another one.
Well, I think it will be. American’s love nothing more than building their “celebrities” up and then watching them fall – and the higher they fall from and the more bloody the mess on the way down the better. Just ask the long list of “celebs” ahead of Lindsay.
My guess is yes. There is nothing American’s love more than building celebrities up and then relishing with glee as they watch them fall. And the bigger the fall and the more tragic the mess the better they like it.
Don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel.
Amen to everything you just said. I agree.
I have no idea. I’m sure a lot of people didn’t think Robert Downey Jr. could’ve saved his career, but Lindsay isn’t nearly as talented as RDJ (she was a better actress than most of her teen star peers, but still not on RDJ’s level). I do agree with Eric- I’m pretty sick of her.
Some people have compared her to Robert Downey Jr, but I don’t think it’s the same. I’m not sure she can revamp her career as well as he has. Although I thought she was good actress, she’s nowhere near as talented as RDJ.
Robert Downey Jr. was always good in his movies, even in his worst days.
That’s my point. RDJ probably could’ve made “I Know Who Killed Me” watchable.
RDJ stepped up and said, “I have a problem; I am an addict; I need help.” He didn’t constantly say “Those aren’t my drugs; I’m wearing someone else’s pants,” or sob in disbelief in court when learning he might ACTUALLY BE PUNISHED FOR BREAKING THE LAW.
True, Jen. Reason #4,354,678 RDJ is more likable than 95% of Hollywood.
The comparisions to Robert Downey are weak. He was a good actor. He was a likeable guy. You wanted him to succeed. Lindsey is not a good actor. No one likes her. I hate to say it but I think the majority want her to fail and disappear. She cant “open” movies. Tv doesnt want to touch her. She is the oldest looking 24 year old I have ever seen. And she is an idiot.
Drew Barrymore has come back from just as much of a meltdown so why not Lindsay? Of course she wasn’t as beloved as a kid as Drew or from a Broadway/Hollywood Dynasty, but it’s not impossible. I think she is quite talented but it won’t be easy.
Why should she get another chance at a career when there are literally hundreds of young actresses who are just as – if not more- talented than she is, who are willing to work hard, stay out of trouble and take responsibility for their own bad choices. She’s had more than enough opportunities to get herself together and she’s done nothing but lie and burn bridges, over and over. She doesn’t realize what a gift it is that there are people who are still willing to cast her in a movie. She sees it as an entitlement. Go away, LL. Go flip burgers, get your GED, whatever.
I concur.
I think she should just take small good roles. Grow as an actress, and not have the responsibility of carrying a major film.
How come noone has mentioned Drew Barrymore? Famous Child actress with a notorious drug problem and public meltdown. Poison Ivy has to be as bad as I know who killed me. Now Drew is a beloved actress, director and producer with a fairly stable life. Let the girl grow up. You never know. She has real talent. Perhaps she doesn’t have the pedigree of Drew but I wouldn’t write her off. Many Teens and 20somethings go through destructive phases. It can’t be easy doing it in the public eye. Let’s hope her trajectory is more Drew and less River Phoenix/Corey Haim
Isn’t Robert Altman dead?
Yeah he’s dead. This article is filled with errors and bad grammar. It’s Rourke, not Rouke!
“at the age of 24, Lohan is already getting the kind of cult-fetish role that Rouke was getting in his 50s!”
Yes. He said a director LIKE Robert Altman–someone prestigious making A-list films, in other words. I agree with those who say that Lohan was never all that great an actress. Once she outgrew the ingenue parts, what else was there?
Uh, yeah, I guess so – BUT it would have made MUCH more sense to reference a well-regarded LIVING director.
I think it was a careless Franich flub.
Yes, but he is probably the most prestigious director to have worked with her. Remember “Prairie Home Companion”.
Thank god someone got it. I was worried there …
I think the more relevent question is can her life be saved? She seems to be on a very self-destructive path. I hope she can get herself together, and then she can worry about salvaging her career. If she gets clean and still has the talent she displayed in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, then she’ll do fine career wise. Getting clean comes first though.
EXCELLENT point. She’s gotta worry about saving her life before she even thinks about staging a Hollywood comeback.
I Compare her to Britney Spears,If the Media keeps talking about her on the news, that means they still believe in her, and as soon as she does something new, she ll be officially back.
i can’t believe shes 24 years old…she looks so old…other than those 3 movies-mean girls, freaky friday and parent trap- what good movies has she done? none, in my opinion. she needs to go away for a long time and get her stuff straight and then in her 50′s be an actress again, like mickey rourke.
Bobby and A Prairie Home Companion were okay/pretty good movies.
But I do agree, she doesn’t really come across as 24 to me, other than her irresponsibility.
I don’t think it will take that long. For a girl her age, reinventing herself means growing up. She is young and she went through things many college-aged kids go through. The only difference is she had millions of dollars at her disposal and an army of photogs following her every move.
I’m sure there are plenty of us who are thankful that the irresponsible things we did when we were young are not haunting us into adulthood.
Unfortunately for her, she may be twenty-four but she looks like fifty.
Most college students at least ended their college careers with an education and some marketable skills. Lindsay’s ending hers with a rap sheet and stints in rehab.
Talent doesnt just go away, if someone will take a chance on her and if she prover herself to be responsible- then yes, she can turn things around and be a movie star again.
Oh and Cat- yes Robert Altman is dead.
Talent doesn’t go away… But I’m not sure she ever had any to begin with.
Clearly you haven’t seen
Woops, accidentally hit enter. But clearly you haven’t seen The Parent Trap. She was only 10 or 11 but she did show a whole lot of potential. Same in Mean Girls. I haven’t seen much of her acting since then so I can’t comment on what she’s like now. But she certainly had talent.
I saw Parent Trap. I thought she was okay, but not phenomenal. And I don’t think she’s improved since. I think she was the weak link in Mean Girls. Her line delivery really, really bothers me. I have sympathy for her as a human being, but I don’t think this is the right career for her… at least not at this point in her life.
Hmm. I replied to this but it never showed up. The gist of it was: I saw Parent Trap; I wasn’t impressed. I saw Mean Girls; I thought she was the weak link. Her line delivery really, really bugs me. There might be hope for her if she gets cleaned up and works with a good acting coach, but right now, she needs to scrap the career and start focusing on fixing her LIFE. Because that’s just way more important, and way more worth saving.
I was probably a bit too harsh with my first comment, but I’m tired of hearing her discussed like she’s some prodigy, when really she’s just a tragically messed up kid in need of some half-decent parenting.
Replying to David’s comment here, since the board won’t let my reply below the actual comment for some reason…
I saw Parent Trap, but I wasn’t particularly impressed. And I thought she was the weak link in Mean Girls (to be fair, Rachel McAdams and Lizzy Caplan would make most actresses look bad by comparison).
Honestly, her line delivery really, really bothers me. Maybe she could be coached out of it, but that’s beside the point.
I was probably a bit harsh in my earlier comment, but I really think she (and we) should stop worrying about trying to salvage her acting career, because it’s not necessarily worth salvaging. Instead, she should worry about trying to salvage her physical and mental health, because that’s infinitely more valuable.
Yeah, but talent doesn’t just suddenly appear where before there was none either.
Her career arc is the same as that of MaCauly Culken…It’s OVER, baby! Way to F**k Up a Life!
Yeah, I gotta agree with Eric in that she needs to go away for a while and make it so that when people hear her name, they don’t immediately think “druggie club girl.” (I’m not even sure if this is possible.)
The thing is…isn’t it possible we overrated her?
I mean, she was a cute kid in “Parent Trap”, and she was fine in “Mean Girls” (McAdams was the REAL breakout star of that movie.) Other than that, as Darren said, she’s had bit parts in other movies, but has headlined some truly AWFUL stuff.
Would it really be some sort of grand tragedy if she never gets her “comeback.”
WHO CARES!?
Seriously, and this goes to anyone who posts “Who cares” on a thread: why are you here? To tell us you don’t care about this subject? OK, fine, we know now, so please go away.
can lindsy’s carrerr be saved?….let’s hope not.
I think the courts were too lenient with her. If it were me or you we’d be in the slammer for a long time. Why do celebrities get royal treatment? Look at Paris Hilton…everybody has an excuse. Lindsey’s mother is at fault for allowing her daughter to be so out of control and sugar coating it. Lindsey get your act together. You were not locked up enough…