Lindsay Lohan has traveled across the pond to attempt another career revival in a West End production of the David Mamet play “Speed-the-Plow.” The actress is ready to fight to win back her fans and critics, who have deserted the troubled performer over the last 10 years.
“I like the idea of being able to fight for what I lost, essentially,” Lohan told The Telegraph. “I lost a lot of… I wouldn’t say… I don’t think ‘respect’ is the word… trust from a lot of people. And I don’t mind gaining that back.”
The “Mean Girls” star has set some lofty goals for her career moving forward. She wants to “win an Oscar” award within the next five years, and possibly two in the next 10, she told The Sunday Times.
She will make her stage debut in the Mamet play set to open on London’s West End in October. She will play Karen, the role originated by Madonna in the 1988 Broadway production. Lohan’s director, Lindsay Posner, believes his actress can turn it around.
“I have every confidence that the media, the profession and indeed the American film industry will be reminded once again of how good she is as an actress,” Posner told The Telegraph. “I do think that will happen, and I think it will be wonderful if it does.”
The director has shrugged off the naysayers, and two weeks into rehearsals, Lohan said the two have already grown “really close.” Posner chose Lohan because “she has a mixture of vulnerability and confidence and ambition,” he said.
“Part of the ambiguity of the role is that the audience isn’t quite sure whether she’s a naïve girl who’s out of her depth, or a calculating opportunist. That’s part of what makes the play interesting. She also needs to be sexually charismatic.”
Lohan has struggled to reclaim her professional notoriety. She moved to London to escape the constant barrage of paparazzi stalking her first in Los Angeles and then in New York City. Her legal troubles haven’t helped either.
She recently served her community service sentence at the Los Angeles County Dept. of Coroner. She worked 12-hour shifts from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. for four months.
Lohan described the experience as “F’d up and inappropriate – because a lot of other people were meant to do it, and they were like: ‘No, they can’t handle it. Lohan can.’ It’s different for me than it would be for other people – like, no one would really have to work at the morgue in LA and roll a body bag for Whitney Houston.”
(An official with the L.A. Coroner's office told TMZ no one in the probation program came in contact with Houston's body, and that the singer was wrapped in plastic, not placed in a body bag).
She did find somewhat of a silver lining during her time, as it led her to reevaluate her life.
“I was like: OK, wait. Something needs to change, and I think that’s me.”
“Speed-the-Plow” begins performances on Sept. 24 at the Playhouse Theatre in London. Opening night is set for Oct. 2 and the show runs through Nov. 29.
