Lindsay Lohan Talks FREAKIER FRIDAY, Motherhood and New Beauty Line for ELLE Magazine

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Lindsay Lohan covers ELLE’s 2025 Summer Issue, on newsstands June 3. In a wide-ranging conversation with SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Chloe Fineman (who has a hilarious cameo in FREAKIER FRIDAY as a kooky dance instructor), Lohan talks about FREAKIER FRIDAY (out August 8) relishing life as a mom, developing a skin care line (of course we made her share her secrets!), and how she manifested her return to acting.

Lohan also sat down with ELLE’s new “summer intern”, 11-year-old journalist Taylen Biggs, for ELLE’s Tiny Talks series. In this hilarious, heartwarming conversation, from reminiscing about early 2000s culture (think Juicy Couture, Britney Spears, and rhinestoned Sidekicks!) to sharing sweet parenting moments and self-care routines, watch as our Summer Issue cover star opens up about her favorite MEAN GIRLS memory, acting alongside-and as-Jamie Lee Curtis, and her dreams for the future.

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On returning for Freakier Friday:

Chloe Fineman: Are you excited to be giving the people exactly what they want?

Lindsay Lohan: I’m excited. It feels surreal. I’ve never thought I would do a movie where there would be a sequel. It’s something you don’t really think about. And then when you get to do it, and bring a character that you knew so well back to life, in a sense, it’s exciting. There’s a comfort with it that you don’t find in a new character. It’s evolved. What are they like now? How can we shoot it? So it felt really special, and so did doing my first feature back with Disney again after not doing features for such a long time. It’s a really nice thing.

CF: You’re coming home, in a way.

LL: I know. I weirdly felt like that when I got to the lot. It felt really special, because I was 10 [when I auditioned for The Parent Trap]; now I’m 38. And to be back there at this time and have a full life and be able to share it with my husband and my son, it definitely feels unique in a lot of ways, and it’s nice.

CF: There’s truly something for everybody in this movie, and I just feel like you’re bringing so much joy into the world. I got to see little bits of it, and I was like, “This is exactly what we all want right now.” It’s not cynical. It’s…

LL: It’s easygoing. I feel like everything felt at ease when we were making it, and I feel that’s the best way to describe how I felt when I watched it. It felt easy and fun, and fresh at the same time. There’s not a lot bringing me to the movie theaters personally right now. [Freakier Friday] is a feel-good movie, which is what I want to give people. And it’s fun. When I saw the second cut, I wanted to get up and dance at the end. I was like, “Oh, this is cool. I like this song. I want people to do that.”

CF: Well, you sing in this again. How was that?

LL: It was good. Well, it was kind of nerve-racking at first, because I’m not singing as me. When I was doing [Freaky Friday], I was also recording an album, so it was part of my life at the time. In this movie, I was singing it as [my character] Anna, whereas before felt more like Lindsay singing.

Lohan on ‘manifesting’ working with Netflix, Freakier Friday and getting back into acting:

CF: Aside from doing a few things here and there, you got back into acting in what, the last four or five years? What has that transition been like?

LL: It was really Netflix. And I was manifesting it. During COVID, I was like, “I want to work with Netflix.” I kept writing it in my journal and saying it. And then that’s what happened. I was like, “Oh, it’d be nice to do three films with them, and then see where that goes. And then I definitely want to do my first feature back with Disney.” So I manifested that, and I’m manifesting this movie now.

CF: Yeah, you’re like, [Flashing jazz hands] “Netflix. Netflix. Netflix.” [Laughs] I remember when I saw your movies on Netflix—first of all, it’s nostalgic and we’re all rooting for you.…But you are just so magnetic, and the movies are so watchable.

LL: I always want to make movies like that—things that make people happy and bring people together. I love making movies for that reason—for people to escape and find something that they can take into their own life and realize everything’s going to be okay. But with Netflix, I was like, “Okay, now we need to be thinking about other stuff.” I can’t do movies like these forever.

On shooting Freakier Friday in the Palisades and in Malibu before the fires and how it’s a love letter to California:

CF: It was so special for me to get to shoot a movie in L.A. Did you feel that at all?

LL: Yeah. For the crew, they’re so excited to be working here, where they go back home to their families. That’s the difference you feel here. It’s nice. I made it home every night, except for one, to tuck my son in. And it shows in the film—when you’re happy behind the scenes, that comes through. And now, the film is such an homage to California after the fires, because we shot a lot in the Palisades and in Malibu. Even the house—the original Freaky Friday house—unfortunately, is gone. So I think it’ll be a really nice love letter.

Lohan on the advice Jamie Lee Curtis gave her about being a mom and how Lohan also makes time for herself:

CF: You and Jamie Lee Curtis have such magical chemistry. When she found out you were going to be a mom, did she give you any advice?

LL: We’re both very family-oriented people. We always talk about that, and one of the other big things [she’s taught me] is to always take care of yourself first. Because without that, how can you do everything for everyone else?

CF: What does that look like for you?

LL: I love having a routine, and I like schedules. So, my morning routine: Waking up, writing in my journal, sipping my green tea, breakfast with my son. And then Pilates, making sure I go.

CF: When you’re in Dubai versus New York or L.A., do you try to keep that same routine?

LL: I try. It’s hard in L.A. Even taking my son to the park in L.A., 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.

There’s a different kind of energy in New York. I’d rather have downtime in New York than I would in L.A. But the nice thing about L.A. is, I like space [and you get that here]. But I’m thinking as I’m saying this, the funny thing is, in Dubai I get all of those things. I get the privacy, I get the peace, I get the space. I don’t have to worry there; I feel safe.

CF: Has that been such a change, having to take care of another person?

LL: Yeah, because, I mean, it’s the most important thing—my husband, my son, and me. It’s all about balance and, as I said, routine. Especially when you have a kid, routine is the most important thing. And whatever their routine is, I’ve got to live by that.

LL: I feel like we live in a different world now, where women make it such a point, especially in motherhood, to make time for ourselves. We make it important. But also, once you have one kid, you’re like, “Oh, my kid needs a kid to play with.”

CF: Is that where you are right now?

LL: I’m like, “He needs a friend.”

CF: You grew up with a bunch of siblings, so you’re like, “Oh. I get it.”

LL: Yeah, there’s nothing like that. Also, I don’t know if it’s selfish—but I’m like, “I need more than one kid to take care of me when I’m older.”

On looking forward to more dramatic work in Count My Lies and other projects she’d like to take on:

CF: Are you excited to get to do more dramatic work with your TV series, Count My Lies?

LL: Yeah, I am. I love the book. But when I was reading it, I had to put it down for a day because I was like, “I’m stressed now.” But I liked that. It’s going to be nice to do something different. I was talking to the writers and showrunners yesterday and told them, “I don’t know if you realize, but this is the first time where I don’t have to have a romantic interest, where I don’t have to kiss someone at the end of the movie.” Which is so refreshing—to not have to be that girl for once.

CF: Any other acting projects you’d like to take on?

LL: I would love to find a dark comedy like Mean Girls. That kind of meaty, good, funny movie—a smart comedy. Not a rom-com, just a straightforward funny movie. I’m excited to be doing this drama. I’d love to work with some dream directors.

CF: Like who? Let’s start manifesting this.

LL: Maybe Quentin Tarantino. Also, I’d love to work with Julianne Moore—I don’t know why I’ve never played her daughter. Maybe now I’d be her younger sister. I’d also love to work with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Maybe something Sopranos-y, since I am Italian.

On her beauty secrets and developing her own beauty line:

CF: Anything other than acting in your future?

LL: I am developing my own line.

CF: Fashion?

LL: More along the beauty line. It’s taking a long time because I’m very specific, because I’m crazy about my skin and health.

CF: Oh my God, I’m so excited. I am that person. I got a facial last week in New York with an aesthetician who claims she’s never done Botox. And you obviously have skin of dreams, so honey, whatever you’re selling, I’m buying.

LL: Everyone does Botox.

CF: Last night at dinner, I was with somebody, and they’re like, “I’ve never had it.” And I was like, “What? Are you kidding?”

LL: Who are you? It’s like, “You lie.”

ELLE: I have to say, Lindsay, I’ve been staring at your skin this whole time. You look amazing. Can you tell us your secrets?

LL: Oh, God, I don’t even know how to answer that. I drink this juice every morning. It’s like carrot, ginger, lemon, olive oil, apple. I also drink a lot of green tea, a lot of water. I’m
a big pickled beets person, so I put them in almost everything. My skin care is very specific. I’m trying out some serums now that I’m doing—I’m testing them. Also, I’m a big believer in ice-cold water on your face when you wake up. I drink lemon juice a lot; I also put tons of chia seeds in my water. Eye patches, I do every morning. I’m into lasers.

CF: Me too. They’re life-changing.

LL: There’s a new at-home one I saw that Julianne Moore was using that looked really good. It’s good for around your mouth. I’ve heard it all.

CF: I just kind of show up and say, “Salmon sperm, whatever—just put it on. I don’t care.”

LL: I’ve heard that it’s not really real.

CF: Also, Fraxel changed my life, but it is intense.

LL: Did I do Fraxel? I don’t think so. I did Morpheus8 once, and then I realized my skin is so thin that I can’t be doing that. My skin changed after having my son. It got really sensitive. That’s what really made me change my whole routine and diet and everything. I did blood tests, and I was like, “I want to know everything I’m allergic to.” So I cut everything out, and that’s kind of when everything started to change for me.

LL: Yeah, my skin got even more sensitive after him. It doesn’t happen to everyone. But I’m glad it happened to me, because it made me aware of how to take care of my skin long term.

Story by Chloe Fineman
Introduction by Kayla Adler
Photographs by Chris Colls
Styling by Alex White

[Photo Credit: Chris Colls for ELLE Magazine]

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