As Lindsay Lohan returns to acting in Netflix movie, a look back at her rollercoaster ride career

There was a time when Lindsay Lohan was one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, having made her mark on Hollywood as a child actress before moving on up the industry ladder as a sought-after leading lady. 

But, in a tale as old as time, her star soon started to burn too brightly – and the once-talented actress began to crumble under the enormous weight of the spotlight. 

Headlines about her on-screen prowess and never-before-seen talent soon turned to tabloid front pages filled with less-than-savory photos of Lindsay partying alongside her industry peers and stumbling out of night clubs, while rumors about substance abuse began to emerge. 

We would later learn that Lindsay, now 36, began partying to help cope with the constant flow of photographers that followed her everywhere and the intense scrutiny that she faced regarding her personal life – and she also turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain from her ‘chaotic’ childhood, which saw her financial crook and alcoholic father arrested many times.

However, at the time, Lindsay’s sudden descent from child star to Hollywood wild child looked like nothing more than a tragic ‘good girl gone bad’ story. 

Ultimately, the red head beauty would spend years battling addiction – leading to her own run-ins with the law, as well as numerous rehab visits – and her partying soon impacted her acting career. She was thrown off movie sets, kicked out of roles, and forced to cancel appearances – and many were left to wonder, would this be the end of Lindsay’s career?

Well, it appears that the starlet has achieved what many have failed to do: a full circle journey to a comeback. Not only did she recently release her first musical single in 12 years, but she has also returned to our screens by starring in the brand new Netflix holiday movie Falling For Christmas.

But her return to the acting world didn’t come easily. After Lindsay decided to put her partying behind her, she spent years struggling to land a leading role. She eventually decided to leave Hollywood to move to Dubai, where she lived a much quieter life away from the spotlight for many years.

While living in Dubai, the Mean Girls alum raised eyebrows when a video surfaced that showed her leaving a nightclub in France. When she started using a fake Middle Eastern accent and accusing a homeless woman of human trafficking in the clip, many were wondering about what had become of the woman who was once considered to be the Queen of Hollywood.

But in 2019, it appeared as though she was ready to return to the spotlight. With her acting career on the back burner, the 36-year-old decided to dive into the hospitality business – and opened up a nightclub and beach resort in Greece, which she documented in an MTV reality show. However, she soon realized that it wasn’t for her and decided to sell both of the endeavors. 

Now, to much of her fans’ delight, Lindsay has officially resurrected her acting career. Not only did she star in the new Christmas movie, which premiered on November 10, but she’s also gearing up to act in another Netflix flick called Irish Wish next year. In addition, she seems to be flourishing in her love life, as she tied the knot with her long-term boyfriend Bader Shammas earlier this year.

As Lindsay returns to the screen, FEMAIL has broken down her rollercoaster ride of a career. From her rise to fame and how the early years she spent with her criminal dad impacted her to her downfall and struggles with substance abuse to her super private life in Dubai and recent comeback – here’s a look back at the many ups and downs of Lindsay’s life.

Lindsay’s ‘chaotic’ childhood: The actress’ early years were rocked by her criminal father – who was in and out of prison multiple times

Lindsay was born on July 2, 1986, in The Bronx, New York, but grew up in Long Island. Her mother, Dina, was a former singer and dancer, while her father, Michael, was a Wall Street trader.

Her father had multiple run-ins with the law during her childhood – he was convicted of criminal contempt of court in 1990 and sentenced to three years in jail, and in 1997, he was arrested again for violating his probation by flying to California to visit Lindsay after she was hospitalized for an asthma attack on set of The Parent Trap.

In 2004, he was charged with attempted assault after he got into a fistfight with Dina’s younger brother during a party at their Long Island home. While awaiting his trial, Michael found himself in more hot water when he got into a car accident and was also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. 

He was arrested numerous other times that year – first for leaving a Long Island hotel without paying his $3,800 bill and second for punching a sanitation working in the face.

Lindsay’s parents eventually separated in 2005, while he was in prison. He was released in March 2007, after spending two-and-a-half years behind bars, but was arrested once again in 2011 after an altercation with his on-and-off-again girlfriend, Kate Major. 

‘He’s put myself and my mother and my mom’s parents through so much Hell,’ Lindsay told Vanity Fair in 2010 of her father. ‘From the death threats to throwing shoes at my grandfather’s head and giving him a concussion to threatening to kill my mother in front of my little brother Dakota.

‘I grew up really fast just because of the situations I was subjected to because of my father. My mom would try to shield me from that as much as possible, but I chose to get in the middle [of her parents] my entire life.’

At the time, Lindsay said that she ‘felt sorry for him,’ adding, ‘He’s not happy with himself. Therefore, he has to project it onto others.’

However, by 2013, it seemed as though she had put the past behind her – as she told Oprah that she ‘loved her parents’ and that she ‘doesn’t blame them,’ while speaking out about her own mistakes.

‘I grew up in a very chaotic home and there were moments of everything being just wonderful and perfect and then things being so uncontrollable and chaotic,’ she recalled. ‘It was at times the wonderful place she always wanted it to be, but other times it was like Hell. A lot of stuff went on when I was young.

‘I hate the bad rap [my parents] get. They’re just parents, at the end of the day. I don’t blame anyone for my mistakes. It’s something that people go through and unfortunately I waited too long to face it, even though I’ve been seeing a therapist for years and years.

‘Nobody’s perfect. I love my parents and I’m not going to say that certain situations I would have preferred to have been handled differently.’ 

Her big breakthrough: Lindsay landed her first big role in The Parent Trap at age 11 – earning her massive fame practically overnight

Lindsay started her career off as a model – landing her first gig at the young age of three when she was signed to Ford Models. She posed for big brands like Calvin Klein Kids and Abercrombie throughout her childhood, and appeared in more than 60 commercials for companies like Pizza Hut and Wendy’s.

She got her first official acting role at age 10, when she was cast as Alexandra ‘Alli’ Fowler in the soap opera Another World.

One year later – she was cast in the beloved Disney movie The Parent Trap, in which she played twins Annie and Hallie who tried to reunite their long-divorced parents. The movie was a huge success – earning $92 million worldwide at the box office and launching a major career for the young star.

She later told People that her parents’ own divorce helped her make the movie, with her explaining, ‘My parents were kind of separating at the time when this was all going on. And it made it a lot easier for me to play these characters that were figuring it out.

‘I just felt so lucky and really blessed … Without this movie, I wouldn’t have gotten the acting bug. How do you not only want to act for the rest of your life after doing a film like this? The Parent Trap is beautiful, it’s timeless and it’s special, it’s really special. I feel really blessed and really grateful to have been a part of it.’

She added of being on set: ‘I didn’t feel like I was working. It just felt like a really incredible experience for me and a lot of fun.’

She then went on to star in the series Bette (playing Bette Midler’s daughter), the Disney Channel flick Life Size (alongside Tyra Banks), and Get a Clue. 

Lindsay’s golden years: The star became one of the most well-known faces in the world, thanks to her roles in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls 

By 2003, almost everyone knew who Lindsay was. She was practically skyrocketed into the spotlight over night after her success in The Parent Trap, and she didn’t slow down afterwards.

She was then cast in the wildly popular movie Freaky Friday opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in which she played a teen who switched bodies with her mother after receiving a mysterious fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant. 

She then went on to star in Disney’s Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, quickly followed by Mean Girls – which ‘cemented her status as the new teen movie queen.’ Mean Girls, which was created by Tina Fey and grossed $129 million worldwide, went on to become a cult classic – and even now, nearly two decades after it came out, it’s still one of the most well-known movies in the world.

Lindsay starred in it alongside Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Lizza Caplan, Daniel Franzese, and Jonathan Bennett. She played a teen who recently moved to America from Africa, and was in for a shock when she attended high school for the first time. In an attempt to bring down the school’s hierarchy, she decided to pretend to be friends with the ‘plastics’ while secretly sabotaging them behind their backs.

While her acting career flourished, Lindsay also jumped into the music industry at the same time. After recording singles for Freaky Friday and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, the star released her debut album, Speak, in 2004.

It peaked at number four on the Billboard chart, and sold one million units across the US. She dropped her second LP, called A Little More Personal (Raw), in December 2005.  

That same year, Lindsay starred in the Disney comedy Herbie: Fully Loaded, in which she played NASCAR driver Margaret ‘Maggie’ Peyton. She also acted in the rom-com Just My Luck opposite Chris Pine, the independent movie A Prairie Home Companion (which also starred Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), and the drama Bobby in 2006.

Her downfall: Lindsay turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the sudden fame – resulting in her getting arrested more than 20 times and spending 250 days in rehab 

Unfortunately, things started to go downhill for Lindsay after that. After being thrown into the public eye at a young age, the actress soon got swept up in the party scene while trying to balance the pressures of her sudden stardom and the demons from her rough childhood.

She also later told Oprah that moving away from home to live by herself as a teen to pursue a career in acting also contributed to her problems – since she didn’t have any ‘guidance.’

‘I wasted so much money. I wasn’t really being guided … And I didn’t listen to my family when they would say, “Come move back to New York,”‘ she explained. 

Throughout 2006 and 2007, Lindsay was often photographed enjoying wild and boozy nights out, with photographers catching her looking bleary eyed while leaving clubs in the early hours on many occasions.

Then, while filming the movie Georgia Rule in early 2007, reports emerged that the actress had been sent to the hospital for ‘overheating and dehydration,’ but rumors quickly started to spread that her partying had actually lead to the incident.

Well known Hollywood executive James G. Robinson even called Lindsay ‘irresponsible and unprofessional’ at the time, while slamming her ‘late arrivals and absences from set.’

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‘We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called “exhaustion,”‘ he wrote.

In January 2007, the actress attended a 30-day rehab program. While in treatment, Lindsay continued to film the movie I Know Who Killed Me – a bizarre and creepy psychological thriller about a pair of twins (both played by Lindsay) who didn’t know the other exists. But when one was kidnapped and tortured by a sadistic serial killer, the other began to feel her pain and sets out to find her long lost sister.

By March of that year, Lindsay was arrested for drinking and driving after she crashed her Mercedes-Benz into a curb in Beverly Hills, California.

She then checked herself into a treatment center, where she stayed for 45 days. However, two weeks after leaving the facility, she was arrested again for a DUI, as well as cocaine possession and driving with a suspended license. 

Over the course of the next four years, Lindsay spent more than 250 days in rehab and was arrested 20 different times – including four times for breaking her probation. However, she spent less than two weeks in jail in total, and was put on house arrest for 35 days from all of her legal troubles.

During this time, she struggled to hold jobs – she withdrew from the movie A Woman of No Importance to ‘focus on getting better,’ was replaced in The Edge of Love due to ‘insurance reasons,’ she was let go from the movie The Other Side after being described as ‘not bankable’ by the director, and she pulled out of her scheduled appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with no explanation.

In a 2013 interview with CNN, Lindsay reflected on her ‘totally irresponsible’ and ‘stupid’ decisions during that time of her life. She also recalled the press hounding her after her first arrest, which made things even harder.  

‘The press were on me all the time,’ she said, adding of the first time she had been arrested, ‘It was the first time I’d taken drugs. I was out in a club with people I shouldn’t have been with, and took cocaine, and got in the car. It was so stupid.’

She also said she didn’t consider herself an alcoholic, adding, ‘I’ve never woken up in the morning and had a drink. But when I was younger, I was definitely going out too much and I was drinking too much. I’ve never been a junkie, and never will be,’ she added. ‘I just like going out late to clubs with friends and listening to music. Always have done. It’s not that unusual for girls of 26.’

In addition, the star told Oprah in 2013 that she had struggled with Ambien and Adderall addictions, and admitted to using cocaine ’10 to 15 times.’

Lindsay’s attempt at redemption: With legal troubles behind her, the actress tried to bounce back – but struggled to land leading roles 

Lindsay’s last run-in with the law came in November 2011, and after that, she seemed to step away from the party scene. With her rambunctious years behind her, she tried to step back into the world of acting – however, it was easier said than done.

She landed a slew of small roles – including a guest appearance in Glee, the made-for-TV movie Liz & Dick, the comedy flick Scary Movie 5 (in which she played herself), the independent erotic thriller The Canyons (which she also co-produced), and one episode of 2 Broke Girls – but she struggled to land a leading part.

She also released an eight-part docu-series on Oprah’s cable network, OWN, in April 2014, which showcased her life after rehab and attempt to break back into acting. However, the show was far from a success – getting only 406,000 viewers during the finale – and was described by Variety as ‘boring.’

She had a brief stint on London’s West End in the show Speed-the-Plow, filmed the independent supernatural thriller Among the Shadows, and landed a recurring role in the second season of Sick Note throughout the late 2010s – but Lindsay appeared frustrated by her lack of success.

She even begged Disney to give her a role in their live rendition of The Little Mermaid at The Hollywood Bowl in 2019 – but when it ultimately went to Lea Michele, she was unamused.

‘Huh?’ she commented on an Instagram post sharing the casting news. 

Lindsay’s big move: She said goodbye to Hollywood and hello to Dubai – trading in the spotlight to live a quieter life in Europe while managing a beachside resort

While her acting career appeared to be failing, Lindsay decided to pursue other endeavors instead. She opened a nightclub in Athens, Greece, in 2016, followed by a successful beach resort on the Greek island Mykonos.

Around that time, she also decided to give up her life in Hollywood and relocate to Dubai, which she called a ‘fresh start’ to Emirates Women in a 2018 interview.

‘Moving here was a fresh start,’ she said. ‘You hear more about real current events rather than celebrity gossip, which I really appreciate.’

The former child star added that her lifestyle in Dubai was quite the opposite of that in LA, and that she was thoroughly enjoying stepping away from the spotlight to live a ‘normal life.’

She also told W: ‘There’s a certain calmness that I find [in Dubai]. There’s no paparazzi, no cameras – that’s a big deal for me. 

‘I never considered people taking a picture “bothering” me, but I don’t want people to misinterpret who I am as a person if they see me sneezing and they say I’m crying. I do really appreciate having the life where I can just go outside and not have to worry.’

‘I think it’s because paparazzi is illegal there,’ she also explained to Vogue. ‘I really found that I had a private life [in Dubai], and I could just take time for myself. I decided to stay there because I really learned to appreciate what it is to go, do my work, and then leave and live a normal life.

‘It took me moving there to really appreciate the time that I take for myself – instead of just going, going, going – and learning to say “no.” And really putting myself first, and choosing the things that I want to do, wisely, for me first.’

Lindsay practically fell off the grid after making her move to Dubai, but when a video surfaced in September 2018 – which showed her leaving a nightclub in France, speaking in a Middle Eastern accent, and accusing a homeless mother of human trafficking – many were left stunned.

The clip, which occurred during an Instagram Live and was quickly circulated all around the web, was a shocking turn from the once beloved Disney girl that was plastered all over our screens.

Lindsay spoke in a mixture of Arabic and English as she said: ‘Guys, you’re going the wrong way, my car’s here. What’s happening?’

However, then, after noticing the homeless family, Lindsay accused the mother of trafficking the children and tried to take them with her, which resulted in an altercation between her and their mom.

‘They’re trafficking children. I won’t leave until I take you. Now I know who you are, don’t f**k with me,’ she continued. ‘You are ruining Arab culture by doing this, you’re taking these children they want to go.

‘I’m with you boys, don’t worry, the whole world is seeing this right now. I will walk forever, I will stay with you, don’t worry. Is he your son? Give me your hand.’

The woman then appeared to push the actress over, leaving the Disney star crying in shock on the side of the road. 

In 2019, after spending years living a quiet life in Europe, Lindsay officially returned back to the spotlight when she teamed up with MTV to launch a reality series called Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club.

The show followed her and her partner at the time, Panos Spentzos, while they worked together to run the Mykonos establishment.

It appeared to be a success and helped put Lindsay back on the map – and it even resulted in her going viral on more than one occasion. One scene in particular, which showed the Mean Girls alum dancing in a free and exuberant way, quickly became a meme, and her dance moves even earned the nicknamed ‘The Lilo.’

The show only went on for one season, however, as she ultimately decided to sell the beachside resort and step away from the reality show. Her Athens nightclub also closed in 2020.

A source told Page Six afterwards that she decided to cut ties with the endeavor after producers of the reality show said they ‘wanted breakdowns,’ with the insider adding, ‘That’s not where [Lindsay] is at with her life anymore.’

Lindsay’s return to Hollywood: The actress comes full circle as she releases her first single in 12 years and stars in her first leading role in a long time

Now, it appears that Lindsay is back and better than ever. She served as the judge on the Australian edition of the Masked Singer in the fall of 2019, and in April 2020, she released her first musical single in 12 years, Back to Me, which was a delight to her long-lasting fans. 

She also served as the narrator for Amazon Prime Video’s reality dating show, Lovestruck High, and hosted her own podcast, called The Lohdown with Lindsay Lohan, in April 2022.

She officially returned to acting this month, starring as the lead role in the Netflix holiday movie Falling for Christmas. She is also set to act in another upcoming Netflix rom-com called Irish Wish, which will premiere in 2023.

Her love life appears to be flourishing as well. In November 2021, she announced that she was engaged to Bader – a financer – after three years together. Then, on July 2, 2022, a rep confirmed that the pair had gotten married in secret. 

‘It’s great. It’s amazing I met my person. You never know if you’re going to find that in life and he’s an amazing guy, man. I love him and we’re a great team,’ she gushed during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

She added, when asked if getting married helped her find a new perspective, ‘You just get to share everything with someone. And it is so special. Everything becomes that much more important, I feel like.’

She also dished on her new movie during the interview, explaining, ‘So, it’s [about] a girl who kind of is an heiress that has pretty much everything and something happens to her and she gets in a bad accident and she gets amnesia and remembers nothing.

‘And I think it’s a beautiful story because it’s about how we always want more things in life, but the simple things really mean the most to us in the end. And I really connected with that. And it’s really funny I do a lot of physical comedy in it, which is fun for me.’

Aside from Lindsay, it also stars Chord Overstreet, George Young, Jack Wagner, and Olivia Perez. The actress also confirmed that she has talked to her former Freaky Friday costar Jamie, 63, about possibly making a sequel to the beloved 2003 movie. She said, ‘We would both be into it.’