Lindsay Lohan is an hour and a half late.
And just as Hollywood.com was starting to really grumble about how Miss Thang probably had to stop off at The Lobby to kiss a boy and dance on a table or some other adventure to be breathlessly reported in Us Weekly, the redheaded starlet arrives, hobbling into the Four Seasons with a heavily bandaged ankle.
“It’s a hairline fracture,” she explains. “Yesterday morning I was coming out of the shower and I slipped. I can’t wear heels–that’s the bad thing.”
And just like that, all is forgiven. It’s either one of the more clever Hollywood PR stunts we’ve seen in a while, or Lohan’s actually a lot more like her character in Just My Luck–a beautiful young girl whose ridiculously charmed life is upended when her luck turns disastrous after a kiss from a sweet but jinxed guy–than we suspected. “Lindsay was walking along with me on the street and turns a corner and walks smack dab into a glass wall,” confirms the film’s director, Donald Petrie. “She was laughing. I said ‘Okay, that’s going into the movie.’”
“When we did the washer dryer scene that we shot all night, I got a rash,” Lohan added. “I started breaking out in hives all over from the soap.” And then there was the time she accidentally took a stunt punch for real…Okay, we’re sold. Life’s not as easy for Lindsay Lohan as we’ve been led to believe. So we sat down and got the scoop on everything that’s going on with Lohan, with a little side commentary from her friend and co-star Samaire Armstrong.
Hollywood.com: We hesitate to ask, looking at your foot, but do you consider yourself lucky?
Lindsay Lohan: I think I’m very lucky.
HW: Did you ever have a real run of bad luck like your character?
LL: If I did, then I don’t know about it. You have to go through highs and lows in life to learn to appreciate things, just like Ashley Albright in the film.
HW: Do you have any good luck charms?
LL: My sister. And my bracelet [from the Sunset Boulevard store Caviar & Kind]. You can see it on the cover of W Magazine.
HW: Are you superstitious?
LL: I’m superstitious. No hats on the bed. I’m psychotic when it comes to hats on the bed. And for some reason, everyone puts their hat on my bed. It’s bad luck.
HW: A romantic comedy like this is a little bit more grown-up than your previous roles.
LL: It’s kind of like a coming of age thing for me. And the characters that I’m doing after this are my age or older and maturing. You can only act as if you’re in high school for so long. It was the perfect thing for me because it’s not a dark film. It’s a really lovely film. It was my first romantic comedy and I get to kiss Chris [Pine] in it. I still have a young audience to look out for, and this is acceptable for the younger audience and for people that are older than me.
HW: The broader physical comedy is for your previous fans.
LL: Slapstick comedy tends to be more effective. At first it’s nerve-wracking but then you think, “I want to make this as funny as I can.” This was the first time I did a lot of physical comedy and I really enjoyed it.
HW: Did you do any girly bonding with your cast mates Samaire and Bree?
LL: They were with me when I got [my tattoo] La Bella Vita during the shoot–it was for my grandfather and it means “A Beautiful Life.” People said it meant “The Beautiful View” because it was on my lower back, which was really mean.
Samaire Armstong: And we shopped! We cleaned out Urbanoutfitters.com.
LL: We decorated the trailers. It was like a sorority. I’m a girl’s girl. We took a lot of road trips, too,
SA: We drove to Baton Rouge.
LL: We played The Cure. I remember that.
SA: We found a really good mix CD.
LL: We didn’t find it, honey! We stole it. We went on a treasure hunt.
SA: We figured we’d stay out of trouble. It would be good to have an objective when going on a road trip.
LL: We went to a college
SA: We made a list of things we had to accomplish: A picture of a dog, something gold.
LL: Someone’s basketball.
SA: We found everything on it, including a mix CD which we listened to all the way home. It was Salt N Pepa….It was good!
HW: Was it hard to keep a low profile when you were in New York?
SA: There was a radio station where they’d get a prize if they took a picture of you.
LL: Oh yeah, I remember that. When I was shooting the [Robert] Altman film [A Prairie Home Companion], they had a big billboard up–“Lindsay, please call the radio station!”–right next to the Fitzgerald Theater. And I was standing outside with Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly dressed in their cowboy getup from the film, and they’re chasing me. It happens for like three days and then they’ll come back here because something’s going on in L.A. or New York. Or they’ll just make it up, man.
HW: And did you ever call that radio station?
LL: I did. I’ve done a lot of radio interviews with them. And a premiere there next week.
[PAGEBREAK]HW: What was it about your next film, A Prairie Home Companion, that hooked you?
LL: Would you turn down a movie that Robert Altman directed and Meryl Streep played your mother in? I wasn’t aware of what it was at first. I talked to my grandmother and she explained it. I would look at the call sheet and I would just see these actors. I didn’t believe I was coming to the set everyday. It was a wonderful experience. It was my first independent film.
HW: You’re a singer, but was it weird to do it for a film like this?
LL: I was definitely nervous. I only rehearsed the song three times. We don’t have musicals that are done like this movie. It’s kind of a creepy movie in its own way.
HW: Did the great Meryl Streep offer any advice for you? What was your relationship like?
LL: More of a friend relationship. Her daughters were there all the time. One’s my age and one’s older and one’s younger. The whole cast went to dinner every single night. We had nothing else really to do. So everyone really got close to each other and it was like a big family, which is really amazing. Meryl was getting ready to do The Devil Wears Prada after that, and she was like, “I don’t know anything about fashion.” And then I asked her to do W after that.
HW: You’re also in director Jarrett Schaeffer’s Chapter 27. How’d you prepare for that one?
LL: I was nervous going into it. I got death threats and everything. I believe in the director–he’s a good friend of mine. I love my character in the movie. She’s such a genuine fan of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I wanted to get the okay from Yoko. I nearly died. I walked in, we were wearing almost the same thing. I swear to God. We’re both wearing all black because I was like, “I need to wear something that Yoko would like.” And we went and had sushi and she was so sweet and just amazing in the things that she had to say. My tattoo, the back story behind it is when her and John Lennon, one of the first times they met, and it says “breathe.” So I don’t know, I just think the things that she’s done are wonderful and John Lennon music is very inspirational as was hers. “The Ballad of John and Yoko” is like my favorite song.
HW: It sounds like you’ve been bitten by the indie bug with these two films.
LL: I think that’s just the projects that have caught my eye. They’re different. And the characters are all so different from everything I’ve done. I’m growing up. In Georgia Rule I play a girl that’s been molested by her stepfather. Garry Marshall is doing it. It’s a dark comedy. I feel that people will be judgmental, but all of them have an arc and it’s nice to play different people and go into more mature roles as I grow.
HW: What do you have coming up away from films?
LL: Photographing Karl Lagerfeld when I can find the time. I’m going to Paris to shoot him. That’s been a new hobby of mine.
HW: And you’ve been doing some top-secret interviews with some of your fellow celebrities. What was it like to be on the other side of the Q&A?
LL: It’s scary. I had to interview my friend. I just kept the tape recorder rolling and it was a great interview, and they thanked me so much because I got everything out of him. I didn’t know what to ask them. It’s so awkward putting someone on the spot like that. I felt bad.
HW: We rarely do. What music plans do you have?
LL: The Prairie Home Companion CD is coming out, the soundtrack of the movie, I sing in the movie, and I’m filming here–Georgia Rule–and then I think maybe Barcelona, and then I’m filming Speechless.
HW: That’s a pretty full slate! What drives you to work so hard?
LL: They’re independents so it’s so much easier, I feel. It feels like a lot less pressure. There’s not as much money so you shoot for a shorter amount of time. I really like all the different characters. And it’s really nice to be able to travel and not be in New York or L.A. and places that I’m going to see everyone that I know, and just focus on the work. It’s experience and I want to have as much experience as I can. You only live once.
HW: Do you have such a thing as spare time?
LL: Apparently I just go out to clubs, with a sprained ankle and all. I spend as much time as I can with my friends when I’m in the same place as them. And when I’m in New York it’s great because I’m really close with my sister, and whenever she’s with me she makes me happy. My mom is always like, “She has to go to school, Lindsay!” Now I think she’s gonna play a younger me in a movie, so she’ll be with me [in] Veronica Decides to Die.
HW: Another one? Wow. So about all that partying, where do you think the rumors start?
LL: If you can find out…[laughs] I don’t know. Drama sells, so people are going to keep doing it. If I dated as many men as they say I have, then I’d be dead by now! Honestly. But you come into this industry and you want that, you want to be written about to an extent, but you’re putting yourself in a place where people are going to put you on a pedestal. And sometimes they build you up to try to take you down. But that teaches you to work harder, and this is what I love to do. When I was four years old I didn’t say, “I want to be written about as going to Bungalow 8 every night and showing up to the set late.” You live and you learn. I read that I’m in New York when I’m here. And my mom’s mad at me: “You’re in New York and you’re not coming home?!” “I’m NOT in New York!”
HW: On to the important questions: fashion! Do you have any favorite designers or brands?
LL: A lot, honestly. I’m thinking collections because I’ve been doing fashion shoots. Yves St. Laurent’s collection is one I really like. I like Balenciaga, I like Chanel. Tsumori. Chisato…Oh my God, if you saw my closet. I never need to shop again.
SA: It’s not a closet, it’s a house full of clothes.
LL: I like to collect a lot. I collect pieces. I really like fashion. I collect Hermes bangles. A stack of them.
HW: Are you really the same dress size as Sarah Jessica Parker, whose mis-delivered frock your character wears in the movie?
LL: Actually I am, because I used her tailor once and we were shooting Just My Luck then.
HW: Your red hair’s been your trademark, but you like to change it up. Are you keeping it red for a while?
LL: No, I actually promised the people from Fox, when I went in for the meeting about the publicity for the film, that I would go back to red. But I’m going to be red for the next one. I’m strawberry blonde in Georgia Rule. I’ll be back to dark soon. The only reason I don’t want to wear red is then you don’t feel like the person you’re portraying. My mom’s so happy that I’m red. ‘Cause I’m her baby redhead. I don’t care at this point. I’m comfortable in my own skin. I’ve learned to be. I feel like I have to change my hair color sometimes because when I do…This is a film where I was last red, and I was red for a while. And then I’m in all these tabloids –or reading whatever they think is real—and people see me as Lindsay, and then it’s kind of hard for them to believe that I’m playing someone else in a movie when I look exactly the same. I feel like changing my hair color helps me more. I feel like it will help the viewers of the film believe that I’m not Lindsay.
HW: Okay, so it’s a practical style choice. Any just-because-you-want-to indulgences?
LL: Fake tans. I met this woman when I did Saturday Night Live. I felt really white and pale and wanted to go out get a tan. Lorne Michaels was like “You’re not leaving. I don’t know if you’re gonna come back.” So he goes, “We’ve sent for someone to come in.” This woman shows up and gives me paper underpants. I was like, “No that’s fine, I’ll keep my shorts on,” And she takes out this whole setup and this bottle and she has me stand there and she sprays me. She says, “It’s gonna get darker,” and I was like, “What do you mean? How much darker is it gonna get in the next hour and a half? We’re live!” And by the end of the dress rehearsal Lorne Michaels comes up to me and goes, “We’re wondering if we can do something about the tan. It’s getting a little orange.’” I was like “You’re the one who sent her here!” I was so terrified, but it washed off really nicely.
HW: And with all your running around, do you even need to work out?
LL: This is one thing that I always do–and people think I’m a little bit crazy–is I just drop and do pushups. I’m always doing pushups. I have these skinny arms. My brother used to make fun of me because I couldn’t do pushups. I’m pretty good. I’ve gotten good.
SA: Are they girl pushups?
LL: No. But I have to do one leg right now, because of my ankle. Justin Long, when we were shooting Herbie: Fully Loaded and he had to get hyped up for a scene, he’d drop and do pushups. I’d be like ‘What are you doing?” But it does work. It gets you pumped.
And with that, Lindsay drops and gives us twenty, bad ankle and all. And we had to admit, we were pumped, too.
