Lindsay Lohan's on- and off-set antics are a tabloid staple: now we have the longform version from the Grey Lady herself.A New York Times reporter hung out on the set of "The Canyons," a Kickstarter-funded movie penned by Bret Easton Ellis, directed by Paul Schrader (when Lohan isn't running the show) and featuring porn's latest crossover star James Deen. The reporter hung around for the long three weeks it took to shoot the low-budget film.
Lohan starts out swearing—like she always does—that this time she's all business: “I’ve missed this so much. I’m in a good place now. I mean it’s Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Schrader! It’s a dream. When it’s done, I want to go somewhere far away, maybe Africa. Uganda? But right now all I want to do is work, work.”
And of course it spirals down from there. Some days she's a no-show. One day she takes a sleeping pill and oversleeps. Another day, she decides to party it up with Lady Gaga until 5:30 am when she's supposed to show up to work at 6 am. She can't even be trusted to take a lunch break unsupervised. She gets fired before filming starts which, as the NY Times explains, is when the director has the most power over her. Lohan responds by throwing a fit:
She pounded on doors until she found Schrader’s room. As she banged on his door, she texted him manically. Schrader could hear her crying but wouldn’t let her in. He texted her instead.
“Lindsay, go home.”
The hotel manager rang up to ask if he should call the cops. Schrader told him no and sat down on his bed. Lohan stayed out in the hall sobbing for another 90 minutes before she finally left.
She got rehired and once the shooting starts, the ball is in Lohan's court. She, an uninsurable actress, could easily wreck the entire production with her antics, and Schrader had to do his best to wrangle a performance out of her. If that means stripping down naked so that she can feel comfortable performing a simulated sex scene with other porn stars, then he does.But then there are haunting moments where Lohan is able to channel whatever tortures her into her work, like this scene where she's supposed to be crying:
Most actresses would pop in some Visine to well their eyes with tears and be done with it. Instead, Lohan went back to her room, and everyone waited.
I was standing by her door, and soon I could hear her crying. It began quietly, almost a whimper, but rose to a guttural howl. It was the sobbing of a child lost in the woods.
She came out of her room, and I watched the shot on a monitor. Now, without the garish makeup, Lohan looked sadly beautiful, and it was easy to see why men like Schrader were willing to put their lives in her hands. The camera rolled, and Deen moved in slowly to touch her face.
We recommend reading
the entire feature. Whether or not the film itself will live up to the fascinating behind-the-scenes drama is another question altogether.
Related:
Lindsay Lohan Isn't Sure She Can Handle Graphic Sex Scenes in Bret Easton Ellis Movie
While You Were Busy Hating Lindsay Lohan, James Deen Decided to Like Her
Bret Easton Ellis Will Read Your Novel If You Pony Up $5,000 For His New Film (Probably) Starring Porn Star James Deen
