Lindsay Lohan
Actress Lindsay Lohan arrives at the premiere of the film "Scary Movie 5" in Hollywood on April 11. Reuters

Director of ‘The Canyons,’ Paul Schrader, feels Lindsay Lohan, who is currently in a court-ordered rehab program after pleading no contest to reckless driving and lying to police officials, is a “troubled” and “tormented” soul who shares a number of personality traits with yesteryear actress, Marilyn Monroe.

Schrader wrote an article about the lead actress of his upcoming erotic thriller, ‘The Canyons,’ on Filmcomment.com, pointing out that she shares a number of her good and bad qualities with Monroe, whose off-screen antics, like Lohan’s, put her under constant media glare.

“Similarities? Tardiness, unpredictability, tantrums, absences, neediness, psychodrama—yes, all that, but something more, that thing that keeps you watching someone on screen, that thing you can’t take your eyes off of, that magic, that mystery,” Schrader wrote.

Schrader had to put up with Lohan’s erratic behavior during the filming of ‘The Canyons,’ and in a bizarre incident, the ‘Mean Girls’ actress refused to come out of a walk-in closet prior to shooting a four-way sex scene, a New York Times report said.

Schrader tried to coax Lohan out of the closet, and later resorted to threats when the actress did not comply. But what worked was the director’s idea to strip down to make Lohan comfortable, the Times report said.

Coming late to the set, often drunk, picking up fights with co-stars, and other unprofessional behavior got Lohan fired from the project. But the troubled actress was rehired after she tracked Schrader down and created a scene in the hallway of his Beverly Hills hotel, according to the Times.

But, despite the problems of working with Lohan, Schrader said that it was a treat to work with the actress. “All the drama, the mishegas, all the stress—that means little. A director can shoot around misbehavior. He can’t shoot around lack of charisma. I just wish it was easier for Lindsay,” he wrote on Filmcomment.com.