Lindsay Lohan Has ‘PTSD to the Extreme’ from 2000s Paparazzi, Talks ‘Terrifying Moments’

At the same time, the actress admits that she’s finding it “frustrating” as an actress because she feels like she’s being held back from exploring different kinds of roles because of her past work.

And while she’s enjoying being back in the spotlight as an actress, Lohan is also looking back at her most challenging decade at the height of her career — and controversies — and the relentless media and paparazzi scrutiny that followed her everywhere she went.

“I don’t ever want my family to experience being chased by the paparazzi the way I was,” she told the UK’s The Times. “They were terrifying moments I had in my life — I have PTSD to the extreme from those things. The most invasive situations. Really scary. And I pray stuff like that never comes back. It’s not safe. It’s not fair.”

Like many young, female stars who survived the 2000s decade, Lohan acknowledges that things have appeared to calm down when it comes to the omnipresent paparazzi presence. “I feel that it doesn’t happen as badly now as it did,” she said of that era. “It was way worse when I was younger.”

At the same time, the presence of someone filming celebrities is perhaps higher than it’s ever been. It’s just that it’s not only professional photographers anymore. Now, everyone has a phone and it’s gotten to the point that Lohan both doesn’t even notice them, while also really not liking the practice of just filming a celebrity because you recognize them.

“That’s scary. That feels very uncomfortable,” she said. “I’d rather someone just ask if they can take a photo or else you get cautious of every move you make.”

The 39-year-old said she’s also grateful for the rise of social media in the intervening years, as it’s allowed celebrities to regain control of their public presence. “Now, because of social media, people can tell their own story in the way that you want it to be told,” she explained. “It has reclaimed the ownership of your life.”

As a child star, she said it was challenging navigating that world without any sense of control. She said that she’s since learned “how to separate my private life and public life, and that was difficult for me because nobody ever teaches you how to do that.”

After that challenging decade for her, with her personal life overshadowing her professional ambitions in many instances, Lohan admits she “wanted to take a minute” to collect herself — a minute that wound up running for about a decade. During that time, she settled into marital bliss and welcomed a child.

It was intentional, as Lohan was teaching herself how to “have a more private life, a real life.” She also admitted to The Times she was “losing that feeling of excitement about doing a film,” so she was waiting for that “itch.”

And while she’s thrilled to be returning to one of her most iconic roles in Freakier Friday, Lohan admits she’s also felt “pigeonholed” by some of her past roles when it comes time to be given the opportunity to show the full breadth and scope of her talent.

“I was so thrilled to work on A Prairie Home Companion, and yet even today I have to fight for stuff that is like that, which is frustrating,” she said. “Because, well, you know me as this — but you also know I can do that. So let me! Give me the chance.”

“I have to break that cycle and open doors to something else, leaving people no choice. And in due time, if Martin Scorsese reaches out, I’m not going to say no,” she said, expressing her desire to pursue more ambitious role with more challenge and depth.

She said that since making her acting comeback with 2022’s Falling for Christmas, she’s felt pressure to stick in that lighter rom-com genre, but she doesn’t want to become known for just one kind of thing.

“I love doing romantic comedy because that’s where my home is and I feel like where my fans want to see me,” she said, “but I’d like to take on some things that are different; maybe find something that’s an action-packed film. Just really show people a different side of me.”

She’ll get the chance to start exploring a different kind of role when she takes on her first television leading role in Hulu’s adaptation of Sophia Stava’s novel Count My Lies. As shared by Deadline, is being developed by This Is Us co-showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger.

In it, Lohan is expected to take on the role of Violet Lockhart, a wealthy mother who unwittingly hires an unqualified compulsive liar as a nanny — only for the new nanny to discover there’s more going on in the Lockhart home than she was prepared for.

But before that, fans can prepare to laugh as the swaps are quadrupled when Freakier Frida hits theaters this Friday.