Summary
- Lindsay Lohan's talent with accents helped her land her role in The Parent Trap.
- Lohan went through multiple auditions until she officially landed her Parent Trap role and was scared to try out for other movies.
- The Parent Trap helped Lohan process her parents' divorce. Despite her home life not being ideal, she had a fun and incredible experience on set.
Lindsay Lohan shot to fame with her breakout role in The Parent Trap. In the 1998 family favorite, Lohan plays twins who are reunited at summer camp after being separated at birth.
Lindsay had experience working in commercials before landing the Hollywood role. One of the reasons she landed the role was because of her talent with accents. In a 2020 The Parent Trap reunion, her costar Dennis Quaid explained that Lindsay Lohan's British "accent was so perfect" at the audition that he "actually thought there were two girls" testing for the character.
Quaid remembers Lindsay Lohan's audition fondly. "The first thing I remember was meeting Lindsay... and I remember thinking, 'Oh my god, she's one of the most talented people I've ever met, period. Forget that she's 11 years old,'" Quaid explained.
How Lindsay Lohan Landed Her Role In The Parent Trap
Lindsay Lohan went through multiple auditions to land the role of Hallie and Annie Parker. "I went back. I auditioned once. Then I got a callback again. Then I got a third callback," she told Drew Barrymore on her talk show.
In a 2019 Variety interview, Lindsay Lohan explained that she only ever auditioned for The Parent Trap and was too scared to try out for other movies. "I would be terrified to audition," Lohan said. "I don't even know what it would be like. I think I would freeze."
She elaborated why she was too scared to go to auditions, despite being a successful actress in commercials. "My agent asked me to read for something, and I was like, 'I can’t.' I would panic. It’s such a different experience. I don’t think I could do it."
"Someone asked me to audition once — it was Oliver Stone for 'Savages,' and I met with him, and they wanted me to read, and I said, 'I’m really, really bad at this, and I’m going to forget everything the second I start, so I might just ad-lib it.' And he was like, 'You were great.' And I was like, 'OK.' It was such a weird experience."
Parent Trap writer-producer, Charles Shyer added that Lindsay Lohan was fantastic during the screen test. "I would say within two or three minutes, we both knew she had the part," he recalled. "She was just amazing, you couldn't beat her."
Lohan admitted the experience of auditioning for The Parent Trap was a dream for her. "I was so young, and it was just so fresh for me," the star recalled. "My first movie audition, my first screen test, my first time in front of people like Nancy and Charles, and on a soundstage. So I was just a kid, and like a pig in s**t—is that what you say?—so I was really excited."
Real Life Traumas Helped Lindsay Lohan Connect With Her Parent Trap Role
Lindsay Lohan revealed in 2020 that The Parent Trap helped her process her own parents' divorce.
"My parents were kind of separating at the time when this was all going on. And it made it a lot easier for me to play these characters that were figuring it out," she told People Magazine. Lindsay Lohan's parents, Michael and Dina Lohan, separated when the Freaky Friday actress was three and later reconciled. Dina filed for divorce in January 2005.
Despite her home life not being ideal, it did not affect her mood on set. "I didn't feel like I was working," the Mean Girls actress said. "It just felt like a really incredible experience for me and a lot of fun."
Other Actresses Who Almost Appeared In The Parent Trap
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show in 2017, Black Widow herself, Scarlet Johansson, was asked about the movies she missed out on in her career.
The Marriage Story star admitted that “at some point” she watches the movies she was almost cast in. These movies included Jumanji and The Parent Trap.
“I saw Jumanji,” she revealed. “I liked it. I wasn’t bitter enough then, now I’m bitter.” As for The Parent Trap, Johansson said she had a tough time with it. “I started to get bitter,” she said. “It was hard for me.”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Michelle Trachtenberg and Matilda actress Mara Wilson were all considered for the Lindsay Lohan's role in Parent Trap. Donnie Darko actress Jena Malone was offered the part, but she turned it down three times.
Lindsay Lohan's Ever-Changing Accent
Lindsay Lohan's accent has long been a topic of interest. Despite being born and raised in New York, the Mean Girls actress has long changed her accent depending on location and audience. It's no surprise she landed one of her most iconic roles due to her ability to switch accent.
Back when Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club aired in 2016, Lohan was living in Greece and had a Greek business party. Her accent on the critically panned but popular show frequently changed. "Well, I think it’s because, especially, actresses even, I think when I’m around certain dialects it changes each time—with Panos even—and you just pick things up along the way.” Panos, is her Greek business and creative partner, Panos Spentzos.
She admitted that her accent changes in dialect and strength depending on where in the world she is; “They all start to come back.”
Her father Michael Lohan also explained how quickly his daughter picks up accents, especially when she is learning different languages. "Lindsay picks up languages like I pick up a coffee!" Michael told ET. "I will tell you this, she's spoken other languages on the phone with me -- languages I don't understand. I'll be on the phone with her, and I'll hear her say something in fluent Farsi to a friend she's with."
When asked what the press should call her new, unique, accent. "We should let the people decide," she laughed, before suggesting, "Lilohan."
