It’s hard to believe but Mean Girls legend and notorious party animal Lindsay Lohan turned 40-years-old this week – how did that happen?
For anyone who came of age in the noughties, she’ll forever be the fresh-faced Disney darling swapping places with her on-screen twin in The Parent Trap, the awkward teenager body-swapping with Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday, or Cady Heron taking on Regina George in one of the greatest teen dramas ever made.
But if you grew up in the era of glossy magazines, Perez Hilton and paparazzi culture at its absolute peak, chances are you also remember something else.
There was a time when it felt impossible to walk past a supermarket checkout without seeing Lindsay’s face staring back at you on a newspaper. Every week brought another dramatic headline, documenting late-night parties or court appearance, then another “comeback”.
Alongside Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, she became one of the defining celebrities of the 2000s – an original ‘it’ girl.
However, beneath it all was a young girl struggling to grow-up in the spotlight and the chaos around sadly overshadowed her talent.
Originally, Hollywood thought it had found its next golden girl.
Disney adored her, directors found her a natural in front of the camera and audiences loved her effortless combo of comedy, vulnerability and star quality.
By the age of 18 she’d already starred in a string of box office hits, while Mean Girls turned her into a genuine cultural phenomenon, delivering quotes that are still repeated more than 20 years later.
She should have had the world at her feet, instead the headlines slowly eclipsed the film roles.
Her friendships with fellow party girls Paris Hilton and Britney Spears became almost as famous as her movies as nights out were documented like sporting events.
Every stumble was photographed, every mistake became front-page news.
But Lindsay wasn’t simply unlucky she made many mistakes, many bad decisions.
Drink-driving arrests, drug possession charges, repeated rehab stays, probation, missed court hearings and jail time became part of a cycle she openly admitted she struggled to escape.
Insurance companies reportedly viewed her as too risky to cast, film projects collapsed around her and Hollywood gradually stopped calling.
Her love life proved just as turbulent. There were romances with Wilmer Valderrama, Aaron Carter, Harry Morton and DJ Samantha Ronson before her deeply troubled relationship with Russian businessman Egor Tarabasov ended amid shocking public rows and allegations that dominated headlines around the world.
Lindsay herself has never pretended she got everything right. She said: “I knew I had a problem, and I couldn’t admit it”
Perhaps relationship with her parents could hold the key to much of her problems.
Dina Lohan, the OG ‘Momager’, handled Lindsay’s career during her peak stardom, which created immense pressure, but the two have stayed united.
Lindsay’s relationship with Michael is reportedly completely estranged. For years, Michael allegedly leaked private phone conversations with Lindsay to the media, criticised her behavior and attempted to launch his own reality television ventures off her name.
Lindsay publicly labeled him a “lunatic” and after decades of brief reconciliations followed by explosive fallouts, Lindsay has permanently distanced herself from him.
He was sentenced to nine months in jail following domestic violence charges and a probation violation.
More recently she reflected on another side of her story, questioning why nobody stepped in sooner and asked: “Why didn’t anyone protect me more?”
It’s a question many people have asked with hindsight.
The noughties rewarded chaos. Paparazzi chased celebrities for sport, websites counted breakdowns as entertainment and every difficult chapter became clickbait long before anyone really questioned the human cost.
For Lindsay, it became exhausting.
Attempts at rebuilding her career often faltered. Independent films failed to make much impact, a reality TV series came and went, her nightclub venture in Greece attracted more curiosity than acclaim and even her ever-changing accent became a source of ridicule.
For a while, she was famous simply for being Lindsay Lohan until she abruptly ran away from the circus.
She moved to Dubai and found comfort in anonymity. Away from the cameras, she rebuilt her confidence, married financier Bader Shammas, became a mum to son Luai and quietly started acting again.
Her Netflix films may not have been award contenders, but that almost wasn’t the point. Audiences were reminded of the funny, charming actress they’d rooted for all along, rather than the tabloid caricature she’d become.
These days, Lindsay talks far more about motherhood than mayhem.
She once reflected: “I wouldn’t call things regrets, per se. I can’t turn back time.”
Perhaps that’s why her 40th birthday feels surprisingly emotional for so many fans.
Millions of us watched every dizzying high, every painful low and every public mistake unfold in real time.
We watched one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars lose her way while the world treated it as entertainment.
Against the odds, she found her way back and in an industry where child stars so often become cautionary tales, Lindsay Lohan turning 40 doesn’t feel like the end of an era.
It feels like the beginning of one she finally gets to enjoy.
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