Lindsay Lohan is growing away from being a teen movie queen. But first she is bang to type in Mean Girls. After that, she is sifting her options carefully, as she tells Liz Howell.

TEEN movie queen Lindsay Lohan has an unexpected steadying influence in her life - her ten-year-old sister.

It would be fair to say that not every 17-year-old with the movie world at her feet would be so worried about the effect her behaviour might be having. But Lindsay, while still doing her best to have fun, has a wise head on young shoulders. She realises that, whether she likes it or not, she is a role model.

"There is and always has been that pressure because I've always had my little sister," she said - displaying obvious affection for her sibling - when we spoke earlier this week.

"She always wants to do everything I do. And now she reads the tabloid magazines, so anything that's written or made up, is true or isn't true about me, she sees and immediately calls me - either crying or yelling at me!

"So I get very concerned about what I do but, at the same time, I don't want to put out an image that isn't realistic. I don't want to say I would never do this, I would never go to a club or do this or do that - I want to be normal, I want to be like any person my age."

It would be difficult to agree that her life has been normal up to now, however. Lindsay started her career at the age of three when she was signed by a prestigious model agency. Many commercials followed, then daytime TV, and then her feature film debut in 1998 playing twins in the remake of Disney's The Parent Trap.

After that she went back to school,

"After eight months making the movie I just wanted to be with my friends," she said. "And my mom wanted me to go back to school; she didn't want me to get caught up in everything. At the time I said, 'I never want to do this again, I want to be with my friends!' So I played sports, got all my school work done, was with my friends - and then when I was about 14 or 15 I said 'I want to work, I want to act now'. And that's when I started doing it again."

Doing it again with Freaky Friday, Confessions of A Drama Queen and, opening this week, Mean Girls, which has taken the American box office by storm. Yes, it's another high school teen movie but it is sharp, witty and an edgier than the usual run of the mill stuff.

Based on the snappily titled book Queen Bees And Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends And Other Realities Of Adolescence, Mean Girls focuses on the harsh realities of school life, such as what colour clothes you should wear on which day depending on who your so-called friends are.

Bitchiness abounds and lots of it is written down in a book which, of course, eventually gets to be seen by the rest of the school - with the expected backlash for all concerned.

Sadly, in a way, this is now the norm - girls can risk being ostracised if they don't do the right things.

"Well, I guess it depends on what kind of group you're in," said Lindsay, who is on the cusp of leaving that sharp end of her life. "Some people just don't care, but a lot of girls want to be cool and wear cool sweat pants and stuff like that - so I guess it does matter to some people."

And to herself?

"I really had no choice but to get along with everyone because I was always in and out of school with working. It made more sense to me to go around and be with different groups of girls. I played sports, I was into math, I was a cheerleader. And that was so much easier because I didn't have to worry about being accepted by one group of girls."

Lindsay is approaching a time when she will want to move on to more adult material, but acknowledges that this is going to be difficult to do.

"I think it's just a matter of finding the right material - and at the right time. I don't want to be known for just doing teen movies.

"I'm reading a script at the moment in which the girl does drugs and goes through having an abortion. It's a great script but do I need to do that yet? Do I want to risk having my little sister wanting to see a movie that I'm in and me not wanting her to see it? I don't know - I'm in a hard place right now.

"I really want to do the movie just to show people that I can do it and it's challenging, but at the same time I don't know if I want to jump that far ahead now. To lose my virginity in a film on screen - I couldn't go back from that."

So next up will be yet another remake, Herbie The Love Bug.

"In Herbie I think I'm either 19 or 20 - which still may be too old for me when you think about it," she said with a laugh. "She's a little bit more mature and in college and I drive race cars, so that should be fun - but then we'll see what happens after that."

Girls on film:

Mean Girls: Lindsay Lohan's bitching teen queens play it by the book (2004)

For Me And My Gal: Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in Busby Berkeley musical (1942)

Girlfight: Michelle Rodrigues boxes her way out of trouble in New York (1999)

The Girl Can't Help It: Little Richard and Eddie Cochran in rock'n'roll heaven (1956)

Girl: Dominique Swain's straight-A student falls for Oregon grunge rocker (1998)

Girl, Interrupted: Extra nut in every Angelina Jolie bite in mental asylum (1999)

Girls! Girls! Girls!: Nightclub singer Elvis Presley puts fishing-boat before girls (1962)

Girl Shy: Timid tailor's apprentice Harold Lloyd hits comical girl trouble (1924)

Tank Girl: Crop-headed, punk-mouthed Lori Petty's risible comic-strip spin-off (1995)

Cat Girl: Barbara Shelley makes horror debut in British pastiche of Cat People (1957)

Updated: 14:37 Thursday, June 17, 2004