Lindsay began working at the age of three as a child model, gaining her first movie role in 1998 with the remake of The Parent Trap. Between 2004–2007, she released 12 movies and two albums but faced a number of public personal and legal issues. She has now lived in Dubai for some years, where the paparazzi are banned.
“I feel like some of [my work] got overshadowed by paparazzi and all that kind of stuff when I was younger, and that’s kind of annoying. I wish that part didn’t happen,” Lindsay told Bustle.
“I feel like that kind of took on a life of its own. So that’s why I wanted to disappear. I was like, ‘Unless there’s no story here, they’re not going to focus on just my work.’”
Lindsay noted that a big part of her work on herself was learning to say “no,” as she said that as a child actor, “They teach you to say ‘yes’ to everything, and that’s not really what life’s all about.”
Indeed, looking back at the mid-’00s, Lindsay said that she could only fit in an hour of rest amid a hectic work schedule. “I was recording an album in my trailer on the set of the movie [Herbie] and promoting the album while shooting, like, TRL,” she recalled. “I remember this so specifically: I had to go to the dentist. I had no time to go to the dentist, but something happened with my tooth. The dentist had to come to see me. It was just so much all the time.”
Lindsay subsequently moved to Dubai and stopped working in pursuit of more personal matters. She explained, “I was like, ‘What if I never fall in love? What if this never happens? And it took me just taking time for me for all those doors to open and the ‘yeses’ to come — the things I wanted to say ‘yes’ to.”
Subsequently, Lindsay’s family — husband Bader Shammas and son Luai — hasn’t yet decided where they will reside as Lindsay takes on more movie work, such as Netflix’s upcoming rom-com Irish Wish. “We’re probably going to start to spend more time here [in the United States],” she said. “We’re still deciding. We’re looking now.”
When it comes to her peers who have released memoirs, such as Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, Lindsay said that “it’s good that they do what they want to take their power back.” However, there won’t be a Li-Lo tell-all anytime soon: “When I’m ready and I accomplish all of the things I want to accomplish, then I’ll maybe consider doing it. But my story isn’t finished yet, so I’m not in a rush to share my side of it.”
You can read the full interview here.