Liz and Dick marks her comeback in front of the cameras after a rocky two years during which she spent three months in rehab at the Betty Ford Center under a court order and was charged with theft of a necklace and probation violation.
She was placed under house arrest wearing a tracking ankle monitor and was later found to have broken the terms of her probation by failing to perform community service.
She was sentenced to 30 days in jail but spent less than five hours there because of overcrowding. She is still on informal probation.
But, she says, she is trying hard to lose the “bad girl” image that has dogged her for so long and she is now concentrating on work.
“I fought to get the role in Liz and Dick because I related to her so much because of her position in the public eye and the media obsession with her, and the ups and downs in her relationships and life. And that’s aside from her love for diamonds!” she laughs.
“We’re both strong-willed and Elizabeth and her mother had a similar bond to the one I have with my mother.
"I learned from Liz that it’s OK to be in love and have heartache. She and Burton loved each other so much it was scary.”
When the role came along she was anxious to start work again and try to restore her reputation.
“I love acting and that’s what I started out doing and it’s unfortunate that people began to know me as a celebrity rather than an actress,” she says. “I can only hope to gain respect back through my work.”
And after so much turmoil she is determined to change her life.
“I care what people think but I am who I am and it’s unfortunate that some of the things that are meant to be kept private have been exposed and if I had the choice I wouldn’t have had it that way.
“I’ve drawn from experiences and from things I’ve seen and grown up with and I don’t want to go back.”
Lindsay believes that part of her problems stemmed from the people around her.
“When you’re filming, you’re part of a family and then when it stops you’re left alone with nothing and it gets lonely and depressing and sad.
“I was being hounded a lot and didn’t know what to do and didn’t want to listen to anyone. At the age when I would have been in college I was in Los Angeles living by myself and I didn’t have the best people with the best intentions around me.
“It’s hard for me to say ‘no’ to someone I love and I really don’t like to notice the bad in people and I’ve had to work on that because not everyone has your best interests at heart.
“When you reach a certain point of fame, people are willing to do whatever you ask them to do and are afraid to say no.
“That has a lot to do with living in excess and if you don’t have the right people around you then you’re never going to learn when to stop.”
Lindsay was upbeat and friendly when we talked in the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Lively and quick-witted with a bright sense of humour, she talked frankly and openly about her life and problems despite the fact her publicists had ruled out any personal questions.
She was wearing a vintage blue dress, one of hundreds she keeps in storage units around LA.
“I was working and travelling a lot and living in different hotels and I didn’t want to bring everything with me so you end up buying more and then it comes home and people send you things.
“It just piles up and up and you want to keep getting the new thing so you end up having way too much,” says Lindsay, who once confessed to having spent £75,000 in one shopping spree.
“My garage is not a garage, it’s a closet,” she laughs. “I love clothing. It’s so expressive and whatever you wear on a certain day tells the story of who you are.”
Despite the fame and fortune life isn’t easy for Lindsay. Wherever she goes she is hounded by paparazzi and her troubled home life and anguished relationship with her father have come under almost constant scrutiny in the gossip columns and fan magazines.
She has been in showbusiness since she was three years old, when she was the first red-haired child signed by the Ford model agency.
Raised in Long Island, New York, she was sometimes thrust into the role of protector of her younger sister and two brothers from the antics and aggression of her father, a former Wall Street trader who was jailed for a series of offences.
Divorced from Lindsay’s mother Dina, Michael Lohan’s problems include alleged drug abuse, attempted assault, a fraud case, felony driving charges and a restraining order. He also tried to claim some of Lindsay’s earnings.
The actress made her film debut in 1998 playing twins in the remake of The Parent Trap and became a teenage star, thanks to roles in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls.
Her last movie was a small part in Machete two years ago but now she is back, with Liz and Dick, and has just finished two more films.
“I said to everyone I was working with, ‘Just keep me on set’ because that’s where I’m happiest and I lost that feeling for a while.
"Now I have it back I don’t want to give it up. I just want to keep making films. That’s my focus.
“I know that I’m a really good actress and I know I’ve had my faults. But knowing that and knowing that I love what I do has kept me going.”
Source 2
