Lindsay Lohan’s iconic ‘The Parent Trap’ role helped her cope with parents’ divorce

More than two decades since the movie premiered, becoming an instant family classic, the cast of Nancy Meyers’ “The Parent Trap” have reunited for a look back with fan Katie Couric. “It’s been 22 years, you guys, and this is really the first time this has happened,” Couric gushed during a remote interview via Instagram. …

More than two decades since the movie premiered, becoming an instant family classic, the cast of Nancy Meyers’ “The Parent Trap” have reunited for a look back with fan Katie Couric.

“It’s been 22 years, you guys, and this is really the first time this has happened,” Couric gushed during a remote interview via Instagram. “You know, I’ve watched ‘The Parent Trap’ a million times. Was it as much fun as it looked?”

Couric gathered stars Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter and Simon Kunz, along with Meyers and Charles Shyer, the film’s writer and producer. Early in the interview, Shyer talked about the fact that many girls, “some of them [now] movie stars,” he said, had auditioned to play the dual-role of twins Annie James and Hallie Parker.

“I would say within two or three minutes we both knew she had the part. You couldn’t beat her. She was just amazing,” Shyer said of Lohan, then just 11 years old.

“She had the quality that just sort of leapt up at you and pulled you in,” Meyers added.

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After chatting with @nmeyers during an IG Live – we decided that we should try and see if we could pull off getting the Parent Trap gang back together again for the first time since 1998 — and guess what, we really did it!!!@lindsaylohan, @dennisquaid, @lisaannwalter, #SimonKunz, and @elaine4animals join writer-director @nmeyers and writer-producer #CharlesShyer to share their memories from filming, reenact their favorite scenes and discuss the film’s lasting impact. PS: With COVID-19 continuing to ravage the globe, we all decided to use this reunion as an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for @wckitchen – @chefjoseandres organization that is helping feed those in need all across the world. You can donate $10 by 📲 texting PARENT to 80100 or by going to wck.org/parenttrap (link 🔗 in my bio!)❤️ #parenttrapreunion #wereallydidit

A post shared by Katie Couric (@katiecouric) on Jul 20, 2020 at 5:41am PDT

“I was so young and it was just so fresh,” said Lohan, now 34. “For me, my first movie audition, my first screen test. My first time in front of, you know, people like Nancy and Charles, and on a sound stage. So, I was just, like, a kid.”

Meyers’ 1998 film, a remake of the 1961 Walt Disney romantic comedy, debuted at No. 2 at the box office, and went on to gross over $90 million worldwide. Critics immediately drew comparisons between Lohan and English actress Hayley Mills (“Pollyanna”), star of the also-beloved original.

Touching on the role of each cast member, Couric talked about favorite scenes, hilarious moments and late co-star Natasha Richardson, who died tragically in 2009. The actress, married to Liam Neeson, was declared brain dead and taken off life support after a skiing accident.

Walter, who played the Parkers’ housekeeper, Chessy, says Richardson’s portrayal of the twins’ mom, Elizabeth James, struck a chord.

“That one [scene] with Natasha gets me as a mom every single time,” said Walter, referring to the scene where James realizes her daughters had switched homes.

“Natasha had such an elegance and grace, and she was so maternal to me,” said Lohan of her on-screen mom.

“Somebody so giving and so glad to be there and transmitted that joy of being able to do what we do. And it just made everything that much better,” said Quaid, who played Parker patriarch Nick.

Lohan and Quaid also treated viewers to a dramatic rereading of the so-called “Range Rover scene,” wherein Annie interacts with her biological father, Nick, for the first time.

“[It’s] just heart wrenching,” Lohan later explained. “Even in times that we live in in the world, you forget how much you miss people until you’re with them when you haven’t seen them in a while. And I think those scenes really tear me up.”

Lohan played both roles.

Courtesy Everett Collection

Quaid was their on-screen dad.

©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Evere

Lohan said the role helped her deal with her own parents’ divorce around the same time.

©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy

Couric asked why the film has “stayed in the hearts of so many people.”

“That’s a good script,” responded Kunz, who played the James’ butler, Martin.

“And it’s funny,” he continued, “and it’s charming, and it’s warm, and everybody can watch it. So, it’s ageless.”

Said Quaid, “When it comes down to it, this movie just had some sort of stardust, that was just sprinkled on it, just happened in the ether.”

“For me, besides the love, the hope, the kind of dreamy quality to it all, was, there was another you somewhere,” said Meyers. “It was like magic.”

She also added that the “spectacular” cast helped make the film what it is.

“And, also LL,” Meyers said, referring to Lohan: “We discovered a big star, you know. We discovered somebody that everybody fell in love with.”

“Nancy you’re going to make me cry!” said Lohan.

She continued, “I didn’t feel like I was working. It just felt like a really incredible learning experience for me. And a lot of fun.”

Lohan then touched on the “fantasy of getting your parents back together,” as Shyer had said earlier.

“My parents were kind of separating at the time when this was all going on,” she continued. “And it made it a lot easier for me to play these characters that were figuring it out.”

Then, she thanked Meyers and Shyer for giving her “the acting bug.”

“How do you not want to only act for the rest of your life after doing a film like this, with such great actors . . . I mean, it’s beautiful, it’s timeless and it’s special. It’s just really special. And I just feel really blessed and really grateful to have been a part of it.”

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