10 Revelations from NY Times' Article About Lindsay Lohan and "The Canyons"

Journalist Stephen Rodrick gives us a jarring look into the world of LiLo.

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Complex Original

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Stephen Rodrick's feature on the making of the highly anticipated upcoming Bret Easton Ellis film, The Canyons, ran in the New York Times today, and it's certainly a compelling one. The film has been a weird project from the start. Between Ellis' ongoing Twitter rants, the casting of troubled actress Lindsay Lohan, wars with Steven Soderbergh, and a script so racy that only an adult film star could play the lead male role, there seems to be enough material to make a whole other movie about the making of this one—a good movie, too.

As of now, we've only seen the strange trailers for the project, which feature a lot of a pouting Lohan and smoldering looks from well-known XXX star James Deen. But thanks to Rodrick, a contributing writer for the famed publication who got exclusive access to the set, we get a rare, fascinating look into what went on behind the scenes, and, most importantly, what it's like working with the infamous redheaded actress.

With so much fluff and fake gossip floating around about the Lohan, it's tough to tell what's really true about the scandal-ridden 26-year-old, especially regarding her work ethic. In the spirit of setting the record straight, here are a few things we learned.


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Bret Easton Ellis didn’t want to cast Lohan in the lead role.

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"Ellis is noticeably absent…he thinks Lohan is wrong for the part, especially if she’s cast opposite the porn star he courted online. But he spent all his capital getting his man cast. Also, his condo is under water. Ellis will give in."

Lohan wanted to have co-stars James Deen and Nolan Funk replaced.

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"Across the table, [Nolan] Funk could see that his name had been crossed out in Lohan’s script and underneath were the names of three or four actors as possible replacements. [Bret Easton] Ellis saw that [James] Deen’s name also had a line through it."

Director Paul Schrader fired Lohan before filming started.

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"Filming was scheduled to start in less than a week, so Schrader arranged for Deen and Lohan to meet him at Prettybird to map out the movie’s sex scenes. Lohan canceled the first day but promised she’d be there the next morning, a Sunday. She never showed...So he fired her...Eventually, the director called Pope and asked him to gather everyone at Prettybird to watch Lohan’s and the French actress’s screen tests again. Everyone agreed that Lohan was exponentially better."

Despite her agreement to behave better, Lohan was still a nightmare to work with.

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"A few hours later, the production broke for lunch...Ricky Horne Jr. [co-producer] drove [Lohan and her publicist Steve Honig] down the hill, pausing at a security gate. That’s when his passengers did a jailbreak, jumping out of his car. Honig frantically pushed buttons until the gate opened and the four of them dashed for Lohan’s assistant’s car."

Lohan had an awful childhood.

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"[James] Deen came to life; throwing the negligée-wearing Lohan hard to the ground and pounding his fist into a wall with such fury I wondered if he had broken his hand. Lohan lay slumped on the floor, her hands guarding her face, shoulders shaking, tears pouring down her cheeks. Between takes, she listened to Ryan Adams’s cover of “Wonderwall.” After three shots, Schrader said he was satisfied, and Lohan fumbled for a cigarette. She headed downstairs, and someone complimented her work...


'Well, I’ve got a lot of experience with that from my dad.'"

Director Paul Schrader had to get naked to coax Lohan into being comfortable enough to shoot the film's pivotal sex scene.

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"Another hour passed, and Lohan eventually moved to the bed but wouldn’t remove her robe. Schrader worried that the early-morning sunlight would begin streaming through the house. He thought of sending everyone home. But then he realized that there was one thing he hadn’t yet tried. He stripped off all of his clothes. Naked, he walked toward Lohan.


'Lins, I want you to be comfortable. C’mon, let’s do this.'"

Lohan didn't stay sober throughout the shoot of the film.

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"[Pope] noticed that [Lohan] and Gavin had been drinking, which was understandable for a young woman shooting a sex scene with three porn stars. Quietly, Pope told Lohan that he could get her a driver to take her home. But she refused, jumped into her Porsche and headed down the dark, narrow road toward the P.C.H."

Lohan is a genuinely gifted actress who understands Elizabeth Taylor's plight.

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"All that remained was to get a close-up of [James] Deen touching Lohan’s face with a blood-streaked finger. Only half of Lohan’s face would be in the shot. 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." 


[...]  I talked to Lohan as she smoked a cigarette in the parking lot. It was just dawning on her that the film was almost over. She seemed genuinely heartbroken. '...There was a line in the ‘Elizabeth’ movie where she says, ‘I’m so bored, I’ve never been taught what to do when I’m not working,’ and I’m kind of figuring that out now.'

Lohan really hates Oliver Stone.

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"Schrader was already scouting the location by the time Lohan arrived at the suite with her entourage. She smiled and waved to everyone and then noticed a magazine with Oliver Stone on the cover. She picked it up and ripped it into pieces, cursing. (Lohan had been considered for a role in Stone’s “Savages,” but the director eventually passed.)"

Lohan isn't happy with the final cut of the film.

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"[Director Paul Schrader] showed the film to Lindsay and her mother, Dina, in October at his New York City apartment. They were both so furious about how the camera lingered on Deen that Schrader had to move Dina to another room to get through the screening."

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