Lindsay Lohan has reflected candidly on her turbulent years as a teenage star, admitting she now questions why more wasn’t done to shield her from the pressures of early fame.
In the March 2026 anniversary issue of Vogue Arabia, the 39-year-old actress opens up about growing up in the glare of Hollywood and the emotional toll it took. Looking back at her meteoric rise, she asked: “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.”
Lohan first shot to global fame at just 12 years old in The Parent Trap (1998), before cementing her status as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand young stars with roles in Freaky Friday (2003) alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Mean Girls (2004) and Herbie: Fully Loaded. At the height of her career, she also launched a music career, becoming a fixture in both the charts and the tabloids.
@lindsaylohan you heard it here first. #theparenttrap ♬ original sound - MD
But while her professional life soared, her personal life became increasingly chaotic. After moving to Los Angeles as a teenager — at one point living without parental supervision and sharing an apartment with fellow teen star Raven-Symoné — Lohan became a constant target of tabloid scrutiny. Nights out in Hollywood clubs frequently made headlines, eventually leading to arrests and a series of well-documented legal battles.
Reflecting on that period, she told the magazine: “It was all so overwhelming and consuming. I should have listened to my mom and dad and moved back to New York. But I was young and wanted to be in L.A. And I didn’t know. So yeah, while a lot of it was fun, it was hard when I was young. It was a double-edged sword.”
The actress admitted she ultimately reached a point where she no longer enjoyed the industry that had made her famous. “I wasn’t having fun in the business anymore. I wasn’t finding roles I loved. It’s not a life I wanted to live, you know? It’s not a real life. 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.”
@livekellyandmark #LindsayLohan #FreakierFriday ♬ original sound - Kelly and Mark
In 2014, Lohan relocated to Dubai, a move she now credits with transforming her outlook. It was there she met her husband, Kuwaiti financier Bader Shammas, and the couple later welcomed their son, Luai, who was born in July 2023.
Describing her family life, she said: “We’re so good together because he’s so calm and I’m like a firecracker. We have a great balance.” She added that life in the UAE has offered her something she long craved: normality. “Being in Dubai is very grounding. I get to just spend time with my family. The city gives me a sense of being with what’s most important.”
A major change, she noted, is the privacy she now enjoys. “That’s a big breath of fresh air, having to not overthink everything you do every second.”
In recent years, Lohan has staged a steady career revival, returning to screens with a string of film projects and now preparing for her next major role in the upcoming Hulu miniseries Count My Lies, where she stars alongside Shailene Woodley and Kit Harington. The project marks another step in what many see as a carefully managed comeback.
With maturity, she says, has come a stronger sense of self. “With age comes a different kind of confidence. 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.”
Her candid reflections come at a time when conversations around child stardom and safeguarding in the entertainment industry have intensified, with former young performers increasingly speaking out about the pressures they faced.
Now settled in Dubai with her family and selectively choosing projects, Lohan appears determined to write a different chapter — one defined less by tabloid headlines and more by stability, autonomy and creative control.
@entertainmenttonight Hilary Duff is finally coming clean on the rumors surrounding her feud with “childhood nemesis" Lindsay Lohan on ‘Call Her Daddy' 👀 #hilaryduff #lindsaylohan #freakyfriday #cheaperbythedozen ♬ original sound - Entertainment Tonight
