Stars Use Small TV Roles to Rehab their Image

May 23, 2008 — -- Viewers who tuned into the season finale of "Ugly Betty" likely got quite a shock when actress Lindsay Lohan acted in the sitcom.

Most recently Lohan, who starred in the 2004 film "Mean Girls," has been known for her rehab stints and partying lifestyle. But Thursday night she returned to what worked best for her by playing another mean girl character to perfection.

In a celebrity double take, Naomi Campbell also guest starred as a fashion editor on the show. Campbell has made more headlines lately for court appearances than her trademark catwalk.

Though Lohan was in rehab throughout 2007, it did little to reform her image. More people have probably seen her mug shot than her last movie, "I Know Who Killed Me."

And a community service sentence with New York City's sanitation department did little to clean up Campbell's image.

Celebrities are trying to woo back fans with small roles on shows, reminding audiences that they are performers and still have talent.

"It's hard to control your image when you're staggering out of a nightclub," said Michael Slezak, senior writer for Entertainment Weekly, "but when you have [a] script in your hand that you've chosen, that's a moment where you grab the power back."

During Britney Spears' much publicized antics last year, her first comeback attempt at MTV's Video Music Awards ceremony was a widely panned disaster.

But a couple of appearances on the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" gave her some credibility, and a cleaned-up Spears was granted expanded visitation rights with her two sons.

The show got its highest ratings ever when Spears was on.

This performance strategy isn't new. When his drug arrests took him off the A-list in the mid-'90s, Robert Downey Jr. appeared on the sitcom "Ally McBeal" and landed an Emmy nomination. That performance reminded fans and producers that Downey really could act. Now he's starring in the blockbuster summer flick "Ironman."