Actress Lindsay Lohan appears as she’s never been seen before in an exclusive photo portfolio by Bert Stern, restaging the photographer’s famous series of photos of Marilyn Monroe that came to be known as “The Last Sitting,” in the Spring Fashion issue of New York magazine, on sale today. Shot at the Hotel Bel-Air on February 5, the photos of Lohan as Monroe duplicate the 1962 originals down to the lighting, the shellacked blonde wig Lohan wears, and her willingness to appear in little more than a chiffon scarf. Regarding the nudity, Lohan tells the magazine: “I was comfortable with it,” though she confesses to having done “250 crunches” the night before the shoot. Lohan sees the Monroe photos (and by extension her own) as a way of regaining power: “Here is a woman who is giving herself to the public. She’s saying, ‘Look, you’ve taken a lot from me, so why don’t I give it to you myself.’ She’s taking control back.”
Taken only six weeks before Monroe was found dead of an apparent barbiturate overdose, Stern’s original “Last Sitting” photos are “arguably the most famous images ever captured of America’s most famous actress,” Amanda Fortini writes in an accompanying essay. Lohan admits to an abiding obsession with Monroe, having purchased an apartment where she once lived, and says of her willingness to re-create the famous photos, “I didn’t have to put much thought into it. I mean, Bert Stern? Doing a Marilyn shoot? When is that ever going to come up? It’s really an honor.”
No stranger to scandal herself, the thrice-rehabbed Lohan calls Monroe’s suicide “tragic” and remarks to the magazine, “You know, it’s also tragic what just recently happened to someone else.” When asked if she’s referring to Heath Ledger she says, “They are both prime examples of what this industry can do to someone.” She is adamant, however, that she will not meet a similar fate, saying, “…I sure as hell wouldn’t let it happen to me.”
Be aware some of the pics are NSFW - but you can see the entire gallery here:
