The Canyons director refuses to gossip about Lohan at Venice
Filmmaker Paul Schrader refused to talk about absent Lindsay Lohan's personal struggles as he launched their movie The Canyons at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on Friday (30Aug13).
Lohan cited personal reasons for deciding not to make the trip to Europe with her director, screenwriter Brett Easton Ellis and co-star James Deen, and they made it clear they didn't want to discuss the actress' recent rehab stint.
The Mean Girls star walked free from the Cliffside treatment
facility in Malibu, California at the beginning of August (13)
after spending 90 days in rehab under a court order.
At a press conference before The Canyons was screened, Schrader
told the Venice media that questions about his leading lady's
personal issues were "off the table", but he praised the actress
for her work on his film and compared her to Marilyn Monroe.
The director said, "They aren't the same as actresses, they are
very different, but both have had trouble separating their
professional lives from their personal lives."
Lohan was planning to make the trip to Europe for the festival but
reports suggest she took advice from Oprah Winfrey, who the actress
sat down with for a candid TV interview days after she was released
from rehab, and decided that would be a bad idea as she battles
sobriety after a series of alcohol and drug issues.