Lindsay Lohan Opens Up About Hollywood And Finding Her Voice On ‘The Lohdown’ Podcast

She is the life-long Hollywood star that has (literally) grown up right in front of our very eyes. From her breakout childhood role in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap to her timelessly beloved performance in 2004’s Mean Girls, actress, music artist, and entrepreneur Lindsay Lohan has spent most of her life in the public eye. Now after many years of having to face the paparazzi and watch her personal life get splashed across the tabloids, Lohan is taking control of her own narrative as the host of her new Studio71 podcast, The Lohdown.

While speaking with me over Zoom from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates city that Lohan calls home these days, she still seems to playfully embrace some of her past by deciding to put her hit 2004 single “Rumors” as the podcast’s opening theme song.

“It was really funny because when we were discussing what song we should use, I couldn’t think of anything and we kept circling. I’m like, Why don’t we just use one of my songs? Why wasn’t I thinking of that? Then it just clicked and it fit perfectly.”

Coming from a popular career in music and movies, I wondered how this opportunity for a podcast initially came about for Lohan. “It was right before I got a lot of the calls with Netflix to start discussing doing a film with them and I was like, I’m itching to kind of start working again and really get myself back into it. A podcast was something new and something I’ve never done before and I thought what better way than to try something different and push myself a little bit because I’m usually used to being on the opposite side of being interviewed. It was out of my comfort zone, which is, I think, really the reason that I thought it was a good idea to do it.”

So far on The Lohdown, Lohan has invited the likes of interior designer and Queer Eye television personality Bobby Berk to speak with her on the podcast, as well as Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton of the longtime hip hop duo Salt-N-Pepa for candidly in-depth conversations. Lohan went on to tell me that she looks to speak with more artists, rising YouTube stars, and even film producers on her podcast ahead.

“I think that with age comes knowledge and I think that I’ve learned a lot over the years and I feel more comfortable in my own skin at this time in my life to discuss with people. I’ve experienced so much that I have a lot more to offer in a conversation with someone and people that are younger in the world right now, where I can interview them but I also have something to offer to the conversation and much wiser perspective (laughs).”

Coming from a rather incomparably famous adolescence and early adulthood, where the media often put Lohan’s life under a microscope while photographing her every move, she says that she is proud of herself for taking on this podcast to now be able to talk about her life authentically and share her stories directly with the world.

“It feels great. It feels really refreshing. Life moves so fast and when you finally come into your own and you can sit and really reflect on stuff and speak that into its truth and into the universe, it really gets it off your chest and it feels really good.”

Beyond the podcast, Lohan also signed a two-picture deal with Netflix earlier this year and has a new holiday romantic comedy titled Falling for Christmas premiering on the streaming giant later this year.

“The reason why I really clicked with Netflix and Christina Rogers and the people that are involved in Falling for Christmas and the picture deal is because I felt like the romantic comedy movies have kind of dissipated a little bit and I really miss them. This was my forte when I started acting and when I was coming into my teens and coming into my own. I really want to bring that back in the best way that we can. Self-discovery for women in movies, I think also, is a great thing in a happy, fun, lighthearted way. I really miss that and they were onboard with me and that’s where the focus is.”

With new movies in development and Lohan excited to back to her clever narrating ways since her iconic Mean Girls days with the new Prime Video reality series Lovestruck High, it is safe to say that Lohan is officially making her triumphant return to Hollywood on her own terms. With everything that she is working on today, I wondered how Lohan’s business mindset about Hollywood has evolved as an adult, compared to her early thought process about the entertainment industry when she first came on the scene as a young girl.

“It’s very different because I think as a young girl, I was just a ‘yes’ person. I think everything was always just yes, yes, yes, because the more, the better, right? Now, I feel like less is more in a sense, where I have the ability to pick and choose and really see what I connect with and do things because I really want to do them and I really love them. I think that’s the difference now that’s come over time.”

For the loyal Lohan fans hopeful for more music from her, she was at first hesitant to share what her future in music might look like, but then she decided to give me a playful hint while laughing, “Well I think I can say this – there will be some music in Falling for Christmas. Just one thing maybe, but that’s it for now!”

When I asked Lohan about her life today in Dubai, she says that during her travels back to the U.S. to film projects lately, she arrives focused to get her work done there and then return home as soon as she can. Speaking of her many homecomings to Dubai, Lohan says, “I can come back and have my life and my time and my space and I really appreciate that. It’s just nice to have a place that I can have my own privacy in.”

As we began to conclude our conversation together, I asked Lohan where she would say her priorities remain most in 2022.

“My priorities are self-love, health, wellness just for beauty and everything like that. Focusing on the things in business that make me happy and setting up a structure for myself where in the future, everything just kind of works out seamlessly. Whether it’s films or then we’re starting other companies and things that I want to do, everything coincides with one another. So, just like staying zoomed in on future focus and not moving too fast.”

I left Lohan with a full circle question, allowing her to reflect from her far from ordinary life that has gone from Disney to Dubai: If you could go back to the Lindsay Lohan in July 1998 when your film The Parent Trap first arrived in theaters and you could give her advice or words of comfort after everything you have experienced and achieved up until now, what would you Lindsay Lohan today say to that little Lindsay?

“Enjoy every moment of it and cherish it and stay living in New York (laughs). Really, I would say just make sure you surround yourself with good people and take one day at a time.”