A star is reborn

THE REFORMED REBEL IS RECLAIMING HER A-LIST STATUS WHILE RELISHING HER GREATEST ROLE YET - MOTHER AND WIFE

- Penelope Clifton

When Freaky Friday was released in 2003, Lindsay Lohan was just a few years away from financial distress, legal woes, addiction issues and public spats.

As a result, her acting career took a hit.

Skip ahead to 2025, and the 39-year-old couldn’t be more different to the troubled young actress whose name was never far from the headlines. Her career is back on track but, more importantly, she’s happy and settled after creating a life for herself in Dubai, where she lives with husband Bader Shammas and son Luai, 2, away from the public glare of Hollywood.

In the past year, she’s split her time between Los Angeles, New York and Dubai because of work. But given most of her public stumbles went down in LA under the watchful eyes of the public and paparazzi, Lohan prefers to be on the east coast, especially now she has a child.

“Even taking my son to the park in LA, I get stressed. I’m like, ‘Are there cameras?’ In New York, there’s no worry; no-one bothers us. Everyone has their own thing going on,” she recently told Elle magazine. “There's a different kind of energy in New York. I’d rather have downtime in New York than I would in LA. But the nice thing about LA is, I like space [and you get that in LA].”

However, it’s in the Middle East that Lohan feels most content. “The funny thing is, in Dubai I get all of those things,” she added of her choice to be based in the United Arab Emirates. “I get the privacy, I get the peace, I get the space. I don’t have to worry there; I feel safe.”