Between 2003 and 2005, Lindsay Lohan was Hollywood’s hottest young actress, as Lohan’s winning performances in the hit comedy films Freaky Friday and Mean Girls catapulted Lohan, who also released a platinum-selling pop album in 2004, to an elevated level of teenage stardom that could perhaps best be described as Lindsay Mania.
However, by the end of the 2000s, Lohan’s career was in shambles, as Lohan’s personal problems, namely alcoholism and drug addiction, and professional disappointments combined to label Lohan as a troubled actress and woman whose unprofessional behavior outweighed her rapidly declining popularity.
Now thirty-seven, Lohan has embarked on a comeback attempt in the Netflix universe, beginning with her starring role in the 2022 romantic comedy film Falling for Christmas, which became one of Netfix’s most-watched films for the year. Lohan’s second Netflix film, a romantic comedy film called Irish Wish, is set to be released in 2024.
Moreover, there is rampant speculation that Lohan, along with Freaky Friday co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, will be reteaming for a sequel to Freaky Friday, presumably titled Freaky Friday 2, for Disney. If this happens, and if the sequel is released theatrically instead of exclusively via streaming, it would mark Lohan’s first starring role in a major theatrical feature film in over fifteen years.
Lindsay Lohan: From Stardom to Infamy
At the height of Lindsay Lohan’s stardom, Lohan received $7.5 million, the highest salary for any teenage film actor or actress from her generation, to star in the 2005 Disney comedy film Herbie: Fully Loaded, which was Lohan’s last commercially-successful starring vehicle, as the film grossed over $140 million at the worldwide box office.
However, Lohan’s earning power, and her teen idol status, belied Lohan’s genuine acting ability and screen presence, which seemed destined to transcend teenage stardom and allow Lohan to have an important adult career, as evidenced by Lohan’s effective performance as Lola, the death-obsessed daughter of a country music singer, played by Meryl Streep, in the 2006 Robert Altman-directed film A Prairie Home Companion. Indeed, Lohan’s performance in A Prairie Home Companion, which was Altman’s final film, drew praise from Streep, who described Lohan as a natural actress.
Lohan’s last starring role in a theatrical film came in the 2007 psychological-thriller film I Know Who Killed Me, in which Lohan plays a dual-personality stripper who is abducted by a serial killer. However, the film, and Lohan’s performance, was overshadowed by her off-screen problems, which prevented Lohan from promoting the film and gave Lohan the stigma of being uninsurable and therefore unemployable.
After I Know Who Killed Me, Lohan’s next starring film role came in the 2009 romantic comedy film Labor Pains, which debuted in the United States on the ABC Family channel and was only released theatrically in Europe and Latin America.
Following Labor Pains, Lohan’s next feature film starring role came in the 2013 Paul Schrader-directed erotic thriller film The Canyons, for which Lohan was paid approximately $6,500.
Falling In Love With Lindsay Again
Just as it wasn’t easy for Lindsay Lohan, given the popularity that she enjoyed approximately twenty years ago, to completely destroy her Hollywood star status in the span of less than five years, the process of reestablishing her credibility and professional reputation, and her sobriety, both to Hollywood and the public, has been equally difficult.
This is what Lohan has accomplished with her first comeback starring vehicle, Falling for Christmas, in which Lohan plays Sierra Belmont, a spoiled heiress who, after losing her memory in a skiing accident, winds up in the care of a widowed lodge owner at Christmastime.
While the film’s character and plot developments are entirely predictable, Lohan is certainly engaging in the leading role in a performance that displays some of the same effervescence and timing that made Lohan a star in the first place.
Moreover, for those people who see Falling for Christmas, and her upcoming Netflix film, with the point-of-reference of having followed Lohan from her childhood and teen star period through her precipitous personal and professional downfall, the sight of Lohan elicits genuine feelings of nostalgia, as her older face almost acts like a portal to the past.
What Happens Next?
In her upcoming Netflix film, Irish Wish, Lindsay Lohan plays Maddie Kelly, a young woman who, after learning that her best friend has gotten engaged to the man whom Maddie considers to be the love of Maddie’s life, is required to be a bridesmaid at the wedding, which is happening in Ireland. However, before the wedding takes place, Maddie, after making a wish for true love, awakens as the bride-to-be.
If Irish Wish, which co-stars Eragon star Ed Speleers, turns out to be as popular with Netflix viewers as Falling for Christmas, will Lohan, who is signed to star in a third Netflix film, become so inextricably tied to the Netflix genre, much like Mean Girls co-star Lacey Chabert has become synonymous with the Hallmark Channel, that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for Lohan to reignite her now long-dormant feature film career?
If the Freaky Friday sequel goes into production, this could truly reignite Lohan’s career, especially if the sequel receives a theatrical release, as there certainly seems to be a groundswell of anticipation for both a sequel and the welcome sight of Lohan and co-star Jamie Lee Curtis reprising their hilarious daughter-mother on-screen relationship from the previous film.
Regardless of whether Lohan can regain film stardom or is contented to simply continue to be a working actress, Lohan’s career, like her life, clearly seems to be in a much better position now than it was a decade ago.
