MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host: We are back at 8:09 with the first messages from Lindsay Lohan since she was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Last night on Twitter , Lohan wrote to a friend about that expletive that was on her middle finger, saying, "Didn't we do our nails as a joke with our friend DC ? It had nothing to do with court . It's an airbrush design from a stencil." Later she tweeted this, perhaps a reference 
 
 to her own punishment: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." So what will Lohan 's life be like behind bars? Here's NBC's George Lewis . 
 
 GEORGE LEWIS reporting: Lindsay Lohan looked shocked as she was sentenced. 
 
 Unidentified Judge: That's 90 days in jail. 
 
 LEWIS: Ninety days at the Linwood Women 's Facility south of downtown Los Angeles . And what's life at this place going to be like for Lohan ? 
 
 Ms. WENDY FELDMAN: I would tell her, get ready to just give it all up. 
 
 LEWIS: Wendy Feldman , a former stock broker who went to federal prison for securities fraud, now councils people on how to survive jail time. 
 
 Ms. FELDMAN: She will be confined, and that will be very, very difficult. 
 
 LEWIS: Lohan will be housed alone in a 12-by-eight-foot jail cell like this one, with her own toilet and wash basin. She won't be permitted to use her cell phone or the Internet , no Twitter . The sheriff's department plans to keep her apart from the rest of the prisoners for her own protection. A probation report just made public notes Lohan has been using a number of prescription drugs , including the stimulant Adderall for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the pain killer Dilaudid , prescribed by a dentist who removed her wisdom teeth last month. Now it will be up to authorities to decide whether Lohan gets to continue using those prescriptions. 
 
 FELDMAN: Everybody knows your business. And the bottom line is how you going to recover? What are you going to do after this? 
 
 LEWIS: Paris Hilton did time at the same jail three years ago for violating her probation. 
 
 Ms. PARIS HILTON: The most humiliating experience of my life. 
 
 LEWIS: After she got out, Hilton told CNN 's Larry King about that experience. 
 
 Ms. HILTON: I was having severe panic attacks, anxiety attacks, my claustrophobia was kicking in. 
 
 LEWIS: When actors in trouble for drugs and alcohol throw themselves on the mercy of the court ... 
 
 Ms. LINDSAY LOHAN: I did do everything that I was told to do and did the best I could to, you know, balance jobs and showing up. I'm sorry. 
 
 LEWIS: ...it just doesn't seem to work. After Tom Sizemore made this emotional statement a few years back... 
 
 Mr. TOM SIZEMORE: I deserve a second chance, sir. Thank you. 
 
 LEWIS: ...he got more than a year in jail, plus rehab . Some do turn their lives around. After jail and rehab , Robert Downey Jr. kicked his heroin habit and resumed his successful movie career. Mr. ROBERT DOWNEY JR .: It's about hopefully we're leaving here to bring ourselves back to our lives as more principled people. 
 
 LEWIS: And now the same challenge awaits Lindsay Lohan . For TODAY, George Lewis , NBC News, Los Angeles . 
 
 VIEIRA: So will jail time and rehab help Lindsay Lohan save her career? MSNBC.com media analyst Steve Adubato is the author of "What Were They Thinking?" and Dr. Julie Holland is a psychiatrist and drug expert and the author of "Weekends at Bellevue." Good morning to you both. 
 
 Mr. STEVE ADUBATO (Media Analyst, MSNBC.COM): Good morning, Meredith . 
 
 Dr. JULIE HOLLAND (Psychiatrist Drug Expert): Good morning. 
 
 VIEIRA: Julie , if I -- good morning. If I can start with you. In March of this year, Lindsay Lohan said about her stints in rehab -- she referred to them as a vacation. Do you think that jail will force her to take the severity of her situation more seriously? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Well, I think hopefully it will do that. And I imagine that's what the judge is thinking. I mean, the judge has said that she's been deflecting blame and not really taking responsibility for her behavior, so she'll have some time to really think about that and hopefully take personal accountability for what's been going on. 
 
 VIEIRA: Yeah. And she'll follow this 90 days in jail with 90 days in a rehab center. Back in 2007 , I believe it was, she spent 45 days in rehab and then two weeks after getting out she was arrested for DUI and possession of cocaine. So you have to wonder how successful these rehab programs are. 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Right. Well, you know, the rehab -- the whole recovery industry really is -- sort of is in crisis right now. I mean, they've got an abstinence-based model, which is a little bit outdated. It may make more sense for them to embrace a harm reduction model where abstinence isn't necessarily the goal, but what you look for is a healthier behavior, a safer behavior, incremental changes that you can get behind instead of insisting on abstinence. 
 
 VIEIRA: Well... 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: I mean, most people are in and out of rehabs. I mean, it's a chronic illness, there's relapses, there's recovery. 
 
 VIEIRA: But if you're an addict... 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: It's not uncommon. She... 
 
 VIEIRA: ...can -- if you're an addict, can you be a little bit of an addict? I mean, are you suggesting just give them a little bit of alcohol or a little bit of drugs? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: It's not -- it's -- the problem is that these abstinence-based rehab programs aren't having very high success rates because the benchmark for success is total abstinence . And it may make sense to just, you know, applaud any changes toward health, any changes toward growth and to embrace a more harm reduction-oriented model. 
 
 VIEIRA: OK, anything that may help her along the way. Steve , I want to talk about her career at this point. Movie producers , so far they're saying they're sticking with her. Is that a good idea? 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: Well, look, I understand them saying that, Meredith , because that's what they have to say publicly. But let's be candid here. In a difficult economy, would you invest $50 million on a movie with Lindsay Lohan being the lead character? Would you do that, given her track record? Would you do that given the fact that she couldn't even do the court -mandated appearances she was supposed to do? She missed not one, two, three, four, five -- seven of them. Her excuses are sickening. They get old, they get tired. `I didn't know. Oh that wasn't -- I didn't mean that on my finger.' My point is this. If you're a movie producer , if you're someone who's investing your life's blood into this, she's not the one you're going to invest in. My advice to her is do some independent stuff, do some things that there's not a lot of money involved for yourself. But she has to rehabilitate herself physically, emotionally, psychologically. And in terms of her career, forget about a big movie. That should be the last thing on her mind. 
 
 VIEIRA: So should she model herself after somebody like a Robert Downey Jr. ? 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: Like a Robert Downey -- the problem was Robert Downey Jr. had a great track record as an adult actor. So even though he seriously -- he had a serious problem, we saw that he did really good things as an actor. She, I mean, was -- you know, there was " Freaky Friday ," there was " Mean Girls ." But it's been years since she has been a success. When she said she was working, in court , I'm thinking, `What were you doing?' Being filmed and having the paparazzi take your picture, that's not working. Working is what we're doing. She hasn't been working. My point is, she doesn't have a reputation as a working actress, and that's a terrible thing. Her brand is in serious trouble. You don't need me to say that. I would argue that the has to do some things off -- way off Broadway , some films... 
 
 VIEIRA: To rebuild the brand essentially. 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: Slowly, and prove that she can get through a job. These excuses have to end, and people are getting tired of it. 
 
 VIEIRA: And, Julie , what does she need to do -- first thing she needs to do to make this rehab work this time? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Well, she has to really want to make changes, and she has to sort of accept that she has a problem and she's got to work it. I think, you know, the court -- she's had a couple of court -ordered rehabs that really didn't go very well. She started using again as soon as she got out. So, you know, the first thing is she may be in denial, and she really has to accept that she's got a problem and she needs help. 
 
 VIEIRA: And what about the people around her, the enablers? How does she avoid them? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Right. I mean, we've talked about this with other, you know, child stars who get a lot of attention, a lot of adulation, and people are giving them drugs, they want to party with them. It's going to be very -- she's really going to have to make huge changes in her life and how she spends her time if she wants to stay sober. 
 
 VIEIRA: All right. 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: And it seems to me she has to acknowledge that she has hit rock bottom. And after watching her in court , I hate to call it a performance, it was an embarrassing performance. And she doesn't appear to in any way, Meredith , believe that she is recountable, she is responsible, because there's a million reasons why -- everyone did -- she didn't do it. Take responsibility. 
 
 VIEIRA: Well, we all hope that she does that... ||||| Lindsay Lohan will soon be headed to jail, and then rehab. Will she be headed to a movie set after all of that? 
 
 
 
 With a Beverly Hills judge on Tuesday sentencing the former child star to 90 days in jail and a subsequent 90 days in a drug rehab facility, Lohan’s already slowed movie career has hit an even deeper pothole. But the filmmakers behind one of her few film projects – the independently financed porn-star biopic “Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story” – say they’ll wait for Lohan even if it means delaying production into 2011 and beyond. 
 
 "Not moving on, not re-casting, not under any circumstances," director Matthew Wilder said in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon. 
 
 Wilder added that the production is "fully financed, prepared to go" but was nonetheless "fully committed to Lindsay," which meant waiting for her to emerge from her court-mandated period behind bars and in treatment. (There's no definite time frame for that, given that the sentence could be truncated, but it's likely she won't be available to work until late fall at the very earliest.) 
 
 Wilder has long maintained his commitment to Lohan despite the fact that the actress is difficult to insure on a movie set. That's at least in part because his financing may be dependent on Lohan; during the Cannes Film Festival in May, he said the actress had meetings with foreign sales executives and others "who, after having met her, put up money" for the film. 
 
 Lohan was also slated to appear in "The Dry Gulch Kid," an adventure comedy that would co-star Willie Nelson and be produced by his company. Upon hearing of Lohan’s sentencing Tuesday afternoon, producer Kerry Wallum said, “We have a bunch of music videos we’re doing right now, so we can just be busy until she gets out,” adding, “We hadn’t really negotiated the full deal yet, but we’ll see how it works. She’s a good actress. We’ll wait.” 
 
 Of course, given the shaky nature of independent film financing, waiting may be partly a function of confidence in Lohan -- and partly a function of a producer trying to lock down financing. 
 
 After her trip to the big house, Lohan will inevitably find more than a few talk-show hosts waiting to grab a piece of the post-prison interview pie. She'll also find at least find two little-known filmmakers eager to put her in their low-budget shoots -- among the remaining few who believe the troubled star is actually capable of a comeback. 
 
 -- Amy Kaufman and Steven Zeitchik 
 
 Twitter.com/AmyKinLA 
 
 Photo: Lindsay Lohan learns of her sentence in court Tuesday. Credit: Reuters/David McNew/Pool 
 
 RECENT AND RELATED 
 
 Lindsay Lohan's once bright future takes a detour into troubled waters 
 
 
 
 Producer: Lindsay Lohan will star as Linda Lovelace and ... appear in Cannes? 
 
 
 
 UPDATE: Lohan movie 'Inferno' sets off internal firestorm ||||| It's been a while since Lindsay Lohan made headlines for anything other than partying. That's about to change. 
 
 Lindsay Lohan is not great at keeping her resolutions. 
 
 Barely six months ago, her New Year's Eve pledge was to have "a drama-free 2010". Barely a week after that promise was made, her clothing line, 6126 – named in honour of Marilyn Monroe's birth date – was rocked by allegations of copying. 
 
 In April, Lohan was unceremoniously dumped from The Other Side (unbankable, they said). Last month, she was ordered to wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet when she failed to make a Beverly Hills court date. 
 
 Drama queen ...after all her troubles, Lindsay Lohan is eager to prove her acting ability. Photo: Muse 
 
 Lohan, 23, was in France at the time and claimed her passport was stolen, hence the no-show. The judge didn't buy it. She no doubt saw pics of Lohan partying on a yacht in Cannes. 
 
 Drama clings to Lohan tighter than the LBD hugging her lithe frame today. 
 
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 "Ninety-nine per cent of the things that get said are not true," Lohan insists. "I'm still young and I'm still learning but that doesn't mean that what they say is true, that I'm getting messed up and all this crazy stuff and that I'm constantly partying or whatever." 
 
 Lohan looks tired. Shadows hug the edges of her enormous eyes and that freckly, heart-shaped face is not quite as shiny and new as it should be for a woman of her youth. Despite her appearance, Lohan races through sentences at formula-one speed. 
 
 Lindsay Lohan attends a party in West Hollywood, California. Photo: Getty Images 
 
 The former Disney imp has always maintained that she's not the crazy party girl she's painted as; that she hasn't crammed more into her short life than Keith Richards and Kate Moss have in their combined lifetimes. (That's almost 103 years, people.) If only there was no photographic evidence. 
 
 "They [the tabloids] distort it," she says. "If you're sneezing, they'll say you're crying and if you go like this [she covers her mouth and nose], they'll say, 'Oh, she had a rough night, she was out late.' It's just nuts," she sighs. 
 
 Lohan is an expert on what qualifies as nuts. It's basically everything that makes up her world right now; the ex-jailbird father from hell, Michael, who makes a living selling stories about his daughter to the tabloids. 
 
 Dina, her "momanager", another prominent fixture in tabloid land. Then there's the DUIs, rehab, drug busts, celebrity spats and bust-ups with ex-girlfriends. A friend pointed out recently that she knew more intimate details about Lohan's life than she did about her own family. Now that's nuts. 
 
 It's not about the raw sex and the shots of her fully nude. It's more about getting into her psyche and seeing how scared she was. That's what I want to show most in the film. 
 
 It's all about to change, however. Lohan, fed up with starring in her own badly written soap opera, is determined to turn things around. It's why she's here today. She has a new film project to announce, Inferno, and as far as the actor is concerned, it's the start of a sparkly new chapter in her life. 
 
 "I'm playing Linda Lovelace, who was the first globally recognised porn star," Lohan says excitedly. "She became famous in the '70s with her movie Deep Throat. We follow her through her ups and downs and show what really went on in her life." Now, playing a porn star-prostitute whose claim to fame is based on her, ahem, unique oesophageal skills would probably raise alarm bells with most young actors. After all, there's bound to be lots of explicit sex scenes and nudity. Right? Lohan looks suitably nonchalant about the prospect of appearing naked on screen for the very first time. (Filming is due to begin in late 2010). 
 
 "The way that Matthew [Wilder, the director] wants to shoot it, is not vulgar," Lohan says. "It's not about the raw sex and the shots of her fully nude. It's more about getting into her psyche and seeing how scared she was. That's what I want to show most in the film." Wilder admits he was "astonished" but "happy" when he heard Lohan "was down with the whole program". 
 
 "I said there are certain moments and certain scenes that people are very worried about," he says. "I was very clear [about that]." Former child stars appearing in risque magazine spreads (Miley Cyrus) or strip on stage (Daniel Radcliffe) in a bid to shed the cute kiddie image is a rite of passage. Nudity can also boost a flagging career. Lohan insists that's not why she's doing it. 
 
 "People are going to say: 'Oh, Lindsay Lohan is doing a porno.' But it's not like that," she says. "I've never played someone's true-life story before. A lot of the other movies I did were just brainless for me. So it's nice to play something where I'm able to experience all these different emotions." 
 
 Despite what she says, Lohan is desperate to cast off the "teen actor" tag, which she resents, sink her teeth into something meaty (no pun intended) and prove she's got acting chops. It's three years since she made anything resembling a decent film (Georgia Rule) and right now she's in danger of becoming like Paris Hilton. The irony is that, unlike Hilton, Lohan's got talent – bucketfuls of it. Ask anyone who's ever worked with her. 
 
 Angela Robinson, who directed her in Herbie Fully Loaded, described her in a US magazine as a "kind of genius". Meryl Streep, who collaborated with her on Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion (2006), said in an interview: "She's in command of the art form. I think she could do anything she puts her mind to." 
 
 The party-girl image is destroying her career and Lohan knows it. Last year, she said in an interview that "great actors who I want to work with have such a misconception of who I am because of all the things that get said about me. And directors . . . " She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to. This year, her reputation has taken a further battering. So what made Wilder take a chance on her? 
 
 "Take away all the baggage and all that stuff, Lindsay is really extraordinarily brilliant," he says. 
 
 "Go back and look at A Prairie Home Companion, Bobby, even Mean Girls." 
 
 The other appeal was the obvious "parallels" the two women shared. As far as Wilder was concerned, Lohan was born to play this role. 
 
 "All that stuff that is happening to [Lindsay] in the press happened with Linda in her days," he muses. "You have two figures that everyone in the world projected their fantasies on. And this image, whether it had anything to do with reality or not, they both became icons that people put on what they wished to." 
 
 Lovelace's story did resonate with Lohan. "She was just this lost girl and she experienced things that you wouldn't ever wish upon anyone," she says. Some might say the same about Lohan. 
 
 But what really struck a nerve was Lovelace's toxic relationship with her manipulative and violent husband-pimp-manager, Chuck Traynor. 
 
 "I think attractive women have a lot of insecurities that people don't necessarily see," Lohan says. "I've been subjected to that kind of thing, too, and my mum: it reminds me of her relationship with my father. It's the story of someone who found herself when it was too late. It's a lesson to learn to be wise and not jump into things too fast." That's not a lesson the actor has mastered herself – not yet, anyway. 
 
 In March, she resigned as artistic director of French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro when a collaboration with designer Estrella Archs was panned. Ungaro hired Lohan despite her zero design experience. What the struggling house was really hiring was her notoriety. 
 
 Of course, kids in showbiz tend to grow up fast. Lohan modelled from the age of three; at nine, she starred in the US soap Another World; two years later, she made The Parent Trap for Disney and scored a three-picture deal. Will Inferno be another turning point? 
 
 Wilder, for one, thinks so: "I hope this brings everyone back to remembering, 'Oh, this girl is actually a really brilliant performer,' and that that becomes what people focus on." 
 
 Inferno, starring Lindsay Lohan is due out next year.
– OK, sure, reports of a failed drug test or two are true, Lindsay Lohan tweeted last night, but she's taking responsibility and is "prepared to face the consequences." Those consequences might be pretty grave, notes TMZ: Not only is there a chance of a repeat performance in jail, but Lohan's judge is likely to yank her travel privileges, meaning she won't be able to shoot SNL or movie project Inferno. While acknowledging "this was certainly a setback for me," Lohan thanked fans for understanding she's "a work in progress, just as anyone else." For more LiLo than you can possibly stomach, click here.