It’s been a treat for many fans to see Lindsay Lohan reprise her role as Anna Coleman alongside Jamie Lee Curtis when the sequel Freakier Friday hit the 2025 movie calendar. The follow-up to the 2003 flick became the “#1 comedy in America” upon its release, which naturally got people thinking about revisiting other LiLo movies. The Parent Trap from 1998 remains a much-beloved title, but should a sequel even be an option without Natasha Richardson? Lisa Ann Walter weighed in.
Lisa Ann Walter is well-known these days for her role on Abbott Elementary, but even her colleagues on the ABC sitcom remember her as Chessy from The Parent Trap. Speaking to People recently, the actress seemed into the idea of reviving the role, but she said Natasha Richardson’s death would have to be acknowledged thoughtfully, and other members of the cast might not be as into the idea. Walter said:
Dennis [Quaid] has said that he doesn't think it's doable without Natasha, and I understand that. The movie — it’s a kids' story, but it’s a love story. So to have a love story that involves that grief, that sadness — if it was written beautifully, maybe it’s doable.
It would definitely be a difficult topic to broach, and Dennis Quaid — who played Nick, the father of twins Annie and Hallie — should definitely have a say in whether or not to continue the Parker-James story without Natasha Richardson — who played their mother, Elizabeth. Lisa Ann Walter is probably right, though, in that there’s likely a gentle and honorable way to do it. “If Nancy Meyers wrote it,” Walter said, she’d definitely be in.
Natasha Richardson died tragically in 2009 after falling and hitting her head during a skiing lesson. She thought she was OK but hours later developed a severe headache. She was airlifted from Quebec to a hospital in New York City, where she died two days later from a brain bleed.
It sounds like if a Parent Trap reboot or sequel were to happen, everyone involved — assuming Dennis Quaid and Lindsay Lohan would be on board — would want to treat the late actress’ memory as delicately as possible. As for if it should happen or will happen, we’ll have to wait and see.
This certainly isn’t the first time Lisa Ann Walter has discussed such a project. She even pitched an idea for The Parent Trap 2 that (not surprisingly) included a redemption arc for Meredith Blake — the supposedly evil would-be stepmother to Lindsay Lohan’s twins. In real life Walter is best friends with Elaine Hendrix, who played the villain in question and, when you really think about it, maybe Meredith wasn’t as bad as we originally thought.
I’ll be excited to see if any talks develop as far as furthering Annie and Hallie’s story (or Chessy and Martin’s, which was another idea from Lisa Ann Walter). In the meantime, though, the 1998 classic is available to stream with a Disney+ subscription or as part of a Disney bundle.
