LiLo admits personal problems were making career `fall apart`

Washington: Lindsay Lohan says she has realized that personal problems were harming her career and the actress now hopes to move forward by putting work first. Lohan - who has endured a string of legal problems and stints in rehab in recent years - had her probation for a 2007 driving under the influence (DUI) conviction come to an end on March 29. The troubled star admits it has taken her some time to figure out that she needed to correctly address the difficulties in order to move forward.

“It’s a tremendous weight I feel has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel really grateful and just happy and ready to move forward. It’s been several years and I did what I had to do, it’s taken time to realise that but it’s a good day,” a website has quoted her as saying. The ‘Freaky Friday’ star was asked what led to her change in attitude towards the sentence. “I think growing up and sitting back and seeing I had worked so hard to be something I wanted to be, which is in this industry, and sitting back and seeing I had let it fall apart, so looking at that and saying, ‘OK this is not what i signed up for, wake up’,” she said. Lohan also praised Judge Stephanie Sautner for the way she presided over the case - arranging regular hearings with deadlines of how much of her community service she had to complete each time - because the “structure” of the sentence finally made her adhere to it. “I think also Judge Sautner understood I’m good with the structure, being on set and that sort of thing, it made sense and worked right. It really did make a difference and I thank Judge Sautner for that actually,” she added. Now that the sentence is complete, the ‘Mean Girls’ star is hopeful she can put her career first and stop the spotlight being on her personal life. “I think I became more of a celebrity and I’d like to bring the focus back to what it is I love to do and what I started in this business for, which is acting. I think this being in my past [now] means it is something I can achieve,” the actress said. ANI