Lindsay Lohan Grows Up

Posted by: Jerrica

Forget about the stuff you've read in the tabloids and put aside the very public struggle with many personal issues from her private life. Lindsay Lohan wants you to take her seriously. She has grown up, and she's coming to the adult table. She aims to play in the major leagues. After paying her dues in young Hollywood by working through the teenage actress movie gauntlet, even coming out of the shallow end of the pool with a notable offbeat satire in "Mean Girls," Lohan has begun to surpass her less than tolerable peers, choosing roles wisely and redefining her on-screen (as well as off-screen) image.

One of her first cuts of big time acting chops is coming up with "A Prairie Home Companion" where she gets to be onboard with Meryl Streep. Another ambitious project on her line-up is "Bobby," a movie about Robert F. Kennedy's assassination. But, the star power attached to these movies reads like a section of Who's Who In Hollywood. In "Prairie Home Companion," Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, Lily Tomlin, Robin Williams, Matthew Modine, and Woody Harrelson all appear on the cast list for this film directed by Robert Altman ("M*A*S*H"). In "Bobby," the cast roll call is even more jam-packed with names; Anthony Hopkins, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Shia LeBeouf, Christian Slater, Martin Sheen, and his son Emilio Estevez, who is also writer/director of the film. These are two high profile projects where Lohan managed to snag a part, and it's a noble effort that may pay off for her.

By many accounts, Lohan is dedicated to her craft, standing at least a notch above some actresses from her generation of up and coming Hollywood youth with which she is unfortunately often associated. She's had the acting bug and the ability since bubbled onto the scene in the 1998 version of "The Parent Trap." Even Jamie Lee Curtis (her co-star in "Freaky Friday") was surprised to find out that the twins in the Disney remake had been played by the same girl. This career revolution is not unlike what worked so well for Drew Barrymore to become the woman and actress she is today, taking roles in movies like Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You" and Wes Craven's original "Scream."

Now, Lohan has signed on for another high profile role, this time in a bigger part, sharing the screen with Oscar-winner Adrien Brody for the romantic comedy "Speechless." It's being described as a modern Cyrano, and it will be directed by Brian Dannelly who also gave Mandy Moore (another underrated young actress lost in the media shuffle of annoyingly bad ones) her chance to shine in "Saved." Meanwhile, what seems to be the last of Lohan's more sophomoric movies, "Just My Luck," comes out May 12th.