Lindsay Lohan - What Happened?

At one time Lindsay Lohan looked like she had the whole world in the palm of her hand.
She was cute, talented and she was the girl other girls wanted to be like.

Before she ever set foot on a movie set, Lindsay was a model with Ford Models.
This was (believe it or not) at the age of three.
At first Lindsay didn't find much work as a model, (okay, she was three for crying out loud) but she persisted ( read: her mother persisted) and eventually Lindsay landed over 100 print ads.
She worked for companies like Calvin Klein Kids, Abercrombie Kids and Toys "R" Us.

When she tried out for TV, again things didn't go as well as she (her mother) had planned.
But this changed, and before she was 10, she landed jobs in over 60 commercials including Duncan Hines and the famous Jell-O commercials with Bill Cosby.
She even appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" in 1992 in a skit as a Trick-or-Treater Dressed as Garbage.
Lindsay was 6 at the time.

Her first really big break was when she landed the role of Alexandra 'Alli' Fowler (at the age of ten) in the NBC soap opera "Another World".
Interestingly, "Another World " also had appearances by other people that went on to make an impact in entertainment like Charles Durning, Morgan Freeman, Kelsey Grammer, Brad Pitt (yes Brad Pitt) and Luke Perry just to name a few.

Lindsay left "Another World" and went on to star in the movie that really brought her to the public's attention, "The Parent Trap" which was a remake of the 1961Walt Disney movie.
Lindsay took on the role made famous by Hayley Mills.
The movie was a hit, grossing over $92 million worldwide.
And also, Lindsay wasn't the only Lohan to show up in the film.
Her little brother Michael Lohan Jr., Dina Lohan, Dakota Lohan and Aliana (Ali) all have cameos.

Lindsay followed that up with "Freaky Friday" in 2003 as Anna Coleman.
This was another Walt Disney remake that paired Lindsay with Jamie Lee Curtis.
Another success, this film went on to gross over $110 million worldwide.

Lindsay had a misfire with 2004's "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" but she came roaring back that same year with "Mean Girls".
Mean Girls was written by Tina Fey (who also co-starred) and also starred Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, and Amy Poehler.
Mean Girls grossed over $129 million worldwide and set the stage for Lindsay to rule the silver screen.

But then came 2005's "Herbie: Fully Loaded".
The film grossed over $144 million worldwide, which actually outstripped "Mean Girls", but something happened during filming that started a downward turn for the cute little redhead that held the world in her hand.
Lindsay had several problems during shooting, one of which was while she was on the set, she was also trying to record her first album "Speak".
She was also going through personal issues and during shooting, finally wound up in the hospital with a kidney infection.

Lindsay made seven films after "Herbie", but none of them did well.
Her media exploits with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton didn't help her image much, nor did a set of knife wielding pictures with Vanessa Minnillo or her trips to rehab.
Lindsay became a one note joke for tabloids and entertainment news in general as she began a high profile relationship with DJ Samatha Ronson.
All of their break ups and reunions were meticulously recorded by the Paparazzi and it looked like Lindsay was regulated to the cover of "People" and "Us" forever.

But Lindsay didn't quit.
She launched her line of leggings, 6126,in 2008 (6-1-26 is the date of her idol Marilyn Monroe's birth).
Lindsay followed that up with the release of a self-tanning spray under the brand name Sevin Nyne in 2009.
And she showed the world that she had a sence of humor about herself by doing a skit on the comedy website Funny or Die, that was a parody of the personal ads on dating website eHarmony.

And now Lindsay has teamed up with Robert Rodriguez and will be appearing in his film "Machete", expected to be released in 2010.
Lindsay has gotten into a name cast (well mainly B-movie names but I like B-movies) here, co-starring with Danny Trejo (Yes! Danny as a main character FINALLY!), Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal (Seagal and De Niro in the same movie?), Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini (again yes!), Robert Rodriguez regular Cheech Marin and Don Johnson (Yes, Sonny Crockett!)

So can Lindsay pull out of her nosedive, get back into movies and really start acting?
Well Machete might not get her any Academy Award nominations, but it will get her back into the lime light.

And Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are BFFs, so who knows where this could lead.