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Lindsay Lohan is reflecting candidly on the pressures of growing up in the spotlight, admitting that with hindsight she sometimes questions why stronger protection wasn't put in place during the height of her early fame.
The 39-year-old actress, who appears on the latest cover of Vogue Arabia, revisited the whirlwind period that followed the release of Mean Girls. Lohan was just 17 when she filmed the teen comedy that cemented her status as a global star, and she says the sudden surge of attention was difficult to manage.
"It was all so overwhelming and consuming," she said, describing how quickly her life changed after the film's success.
Looking back now, Lohan believes she may have benefited from stepping away sooner. "I should have listened to my mom and dad and moved back to New York. But I was young and wanted to be in LA. And I didn't know," she explained. While parts of the experience were enjoyable, she acknowledged the downside of navigating fame so young.
"So yeah, while a lot of it was fun, it was hard when I was young. It was a double-edged sword," she said, before adding the reflection that has since drawn wide attention: "Now I look back and wonder, '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."
After years of intense public scrutiny, including highly publicised personal struggles, Lohan gradually stepped back from Hollywood during the 2010s. In 2014, she relocated to Dubai, a move she now credits with giving her stability and privacy.
She currently lives there with her husband, financier Bader Shammas, and their son Luai, who was born in 2023. Speaking about her life now, Lohan described her relationship as balanced, saying, "We're so good together because he's so calm and I'm like a firecracker. We have a great balance." She also called life in Dubai "very grounding," noting that it allows her to focus on what matters most.
Professionally, Lohan has been steadily rebuilding her presence on screen, returning through Netflix romantic comedies such as Falling for Christmas and Irish Wish. She has also taken on a more hands-on role behind the scenes, serving as an executive producer on recent projects, including the upcoming sequel Freakier Friday.
"With age comes a different kind of confidence," she said. "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."
The actress is next expected to appear in the Hulu series Count My Lies, as she continues what appears to be a more controlled and grounded phase of both her career and personal life.
