Lindsay Lohan explains why she didn't feel 'protected' as a teen in candid new interview

Moving to the other side of the planet has done former child prodigy Lindsay Lohan a world of good, the once-troubled actor has revealed in a candid interview for Vogue Arabia.

But while her 2014 decision to move away from the hustle, bustle, and paparazzi of Hollywood to the personal privacy and luxury of Dubai, Saudi Arabia, appears to have helped transform Lohan into a confident and assured businesswoman, she still has questions about her youth.

Speaking to Vogue Arabia, the 39-year-old opened up about the string of car crashes, legal problems, and substance abuse issues that marred her transition into adulthood after starring in smash hits like Freaky Friday and Mean Girls.

With society generally agreeing that the gawking headlines and invasive photography of the 2000s were messed up, even misogynistic, Lohan is left with asking: "Why didn’t anyone just go and take me out of there, protect me more?"

Lohan has been living in Dubai for over 10 years, meeting Bader Shammas in 2019 and marrying him in 2022 (Samir Hussein/Getty Images for One & Only)

Lohan had moved to Los Angeles when she was just 15, with the hopes of boosting her burgeoning acting career after turning from starring in commercials aged 3 to her breakthrough role in 1998's The Parent Trap.

Now that she is an adult entering her fourth decade this year, with a strong home life thanks to husband Kuwait financier Badder Shammas and their two-year-old son Luai, Lohan regrets trying to set out on her own.

"It was all so overwhelming and consuming," she told Vogue Arabia in an interview for a stylish cover shoot. Lohan went on to say: It was all so overwhelming and consuming,” she shared: “I should have listened to my mom and dad and moved back to New York.

"But I was young and wanted to be in LA. And I didn’t know. So yeah, while a lot of it was fun, it was hard when I was young. It was a double-edged sword."

Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears would party together and were often chased by paparazzi (Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Striking a pose in front of the Dubai skyline from the top of the towering Jumeirah Burj Al Arab building, the former child star said that the change in location and lifestyle had helped her to find her own space in the movie industry.

''With age comes a different kind of confidence," she said. "When I was younger, I wasn't so comfortable saying how I felt about a character and being involved with the process of it. And I love that part now."

Making her comeback to motion pictures in recent years with a string of romantic films made by streaming giant Netflix, Falling for Christmas (2022), Irish Wish (2024) and Our Little Secret (2024), Lohan is turning 40 with a new spring in her heel.

And if the Saint Laurent heels she was snapped wearing at the Vogue photoshoot are anything to go by, the successful 2025 reboot Freakier Friday which broke $150 million at the box office has given her an even bigger spring.

Lohan attributed part of her transformation to her decision to get out of America for a while, even though Saudia Arabia is a far cry from the streets of LA.

But the lack of paparazzi and privacy, along with a 'clean' skincare routine and 'lots of Pilates', has been transformative for Lohan, physically and mentally. She explained: "Being in Dubai is very grounding.

"I get to just spend time with my family. The city gives me a sense of being with what’s most important."