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« Newish to DVD & Streaming. What will you make me watch? | Main | Stage Door: She Loves Me (and Tony Preview) »
Monday
May022016

What could have been...

This Michael Thompson photo was taken ten years ago for W Magazine's May 2006 issue.

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Reader Comments (20)

Did they make a movie together?

May 2, 2016 | Unregistered Commenter/3rtful

They did yes. Played mother and daughter in A Prairie Home Companion

May 2, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterNathanielR

Love this. Isn't Lindsay now engaged to a billionaire? Maybe she will come back too. She was so great before all that other stuff went down.

May 2, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterJono

Love this photo. So much wasted potential from Lohan. If only someone had told her Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone were on their way - she may have fixed up.

May 2, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterAbel A

I think A Prairie Home Companion was the best thing she's done as she was able to hold her own against the likes of Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Garrison Keiller, Woody Harrelson, and so many more. Had she slowed things down, maybe take on supporting parts or smaller roles to hone her craft. I think she would've had what it takes to be a dramatic actress but that never happened. Some of it was her own fault as I don't think she's owned up to that but it's also her parents fault. It is true, it is that what could've been as she was poised to be the next big star.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterSteven

Real talk Lohan had the chops to be great but she let herself get in the way. Shame.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMojo

I was astonished by Meryl's beauty in this pic.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterAnthony_Leigh

Can Lindsay possibly Drew Barrymore her way back into Hollywood

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered Commentermark

@Mark - she'd have to work for it like Drew did. I'm pretty sure Lindsay sits around and accepts whatever roles gets offered to her. If she wants to make an acting turnaround she'd have to be proactive about it to try to clean her name.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMojo

I know this is an unpopular sentiment, but after Mean Girls Lohan never really could pull it together (she was the weakest link, give or take hammy Kevin Kline, in Prairie, a film I loved). I know the CW was that this was due to her child star issues, but I've always felt she just couldn't cut it in the transition to adulthood onscreen-lots of child stars struggle there. Ten years later, the ship seems to have sailed-I just don't think she was a strong enough actress when she couldn't rely upon Disney charm. Hopefully life's better and calmer for her now at least.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterJohn T

Oh, that's a great pic!

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPeggy Sue

The saddest part of what Lindsay gave up is what she gave it up for (at the time)—driving drunk in Range Rovers with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and TRL veejays. Wearing pink Ugg boots, holding a Swarovsky-encrusted Motorola Sidekick. I wonder if that moment felt like it was going to last forever? It doesn't even look glamorous in hindsight. When you have Tina Fey, Meryl Streep and Jane Fonda knocking at your door...

It's not even like she has interesting dish to carry with her. Just a bunch of tacky, pre-recession photos of "celebrity" during a very weird, brief moment in time.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterHayden W.

Hayden-that's a good point I've never really thought about. It's not like the Gabors or the Collins sisters where their stories were about Brando or Sinatra or Marilyn-iconic fodder for the rest of time. Lohan's party stories will be about people who, at best, will be Vegas show acts. Not showbiz immortals.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterJohn T

Hayden--
Totally agree. When you consider how hard it is to make it in show biz...and she threw it all away with both hands.

In terms of a comeback in Hollywood, anything's possible. Look at Robert Downey, Jr. Maybe someone like Tarantino will give her the comeback role of a lifetime.

But my gut feeling is that Lindsay Lohan has joined the ranks of Tara Reid and Shannen Doherty.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered Commenterrick gould

Looking at this photograph makes me wonder how much of an influence, if any, older generations of actors have on their younger colleagues with respect to building a career while navigating the tricky terrain of celebrity -- especially those primed for the level that seemed, at the time, destined for Lohan. Many a talented entertainer has been crushed under the weight of fame, which leaves me curious as to whether it's mainly due to self-destructive tendencies, lack of mentorship, or other factors entirely.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterTroy H.

She's alive. Which to me translates her succeeding. Everyone thinks a successful career is success look at Robin Williams, Tony Scott, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered Commenter/3rtful

Meryl's "I pray for Lindsay" comments were so sad. I wonder if Lindsay got even more distance from the business (like another decade) she could come back swinging and capitalize on the that talent, but maybe it's best for her to just live her life.

May 3, 2016 | Registered CommenterChris Feil

That was an honest moment from Meryl. What else could she say at the time? Lindsay had so much promise but then all of her messed up family history led her back into drugs and possibly prostitution. If she were going to come back, she would have to completely reinvent herself as an actress who was starting over. I hope she finds happiness.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterTurn Bull

She was a Spitfirein Mean Girls.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered Commentermark

John T - totally agree with you, it's a shame that Lohan was done in by addiction/emotionally immaturity issues. But the fact remains, even without those demons, she has a limited talent and no great discipline when it comes to improvement.

Scarlett Johannson, Anne Hathaway, and Keira Knightley were the same age and also transitioning from child star to adulthood, and they navigated that change with success.
Emily Blunt and Rachel McAdams handled youth and instant fame far better.

I think it does take a very grounded person, (with good people around them), but also the wiliness to work hard - and Lohan never seems to want to work hard at her craft.
The actresses I've mentioned have all worked much harder and given better performances than Lohan would have been capable of.
She would have been left behind regardless of the issues with fame.

May 3, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterLadyEdith
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