'GRATEFUL EVERY DAY'

Embracing her second act, former child star Lindsay Lohan muses on marriage, motherhood and the thrill of bringing a magical sequel to the big screen

- KATIE ELLIS

A balanced life isn't always easy to come by, especially for a star who's in demand. But Lindsay Lohan just may have found it - by making her home far, far away from the bright lights of Hollywood.

"I just love it," she says of her base in Dubai. "I love being away from the noise of the industry, getting to just be me and to spend time with family. It's nice to come back and work, but I love my life there."

The New York City native, 39, moved to the Middle East back in 2014 "to find time to be me and start a life, meet my husband, have a kid, have a real life," Lindsay has said. That's where she found love, with financier Bader Shammas. They met at restaurant and spoke for hours. In no time, she was smitten.

"I said to him, I feel like you're the person I'm going to be with forever,'" she told Allure. "I'd never been able to talk to someone like this." They tied the knot in 2022 and, a year later, welcomed their first child, son Luai.

That isn't to say she's forgotten her day job. The actress - who made her film debut in 1998's The Parent Trap and found worldwide acclaim with hits such as Mean Girls (which also starred Canada's Rachel McAdams) - has been enjoying a Lohan-aissance in recent years. She has starred in a trio of rom-coms for Netflix and is now returning to the big screen in Freakier Friday (out Aug. 8) a followup to the 2003 Disney body-swap comedy that started it all.

Here, the leading lady with the ever-youthful looks aptly, she's developing her own beauty line opens up about her journey, family life and the joy of reuniting with Jamie Lee Curtis, 66, to play mother and daughter once again in a fresh take on the magical story.

What does it feel like to be back with a Freaky Friday sequel more than 20 years later?