Lohan helped Curry get her ‘Wish’
Some stars have all the luck. Ayesha Curry’s return to acting in Netflix’s Lindsay Lohan-led rom-com “Irish Wish” is doubly sweet for Curry, who left North Carolina in the late aughts with dreams of finding stardom in Tinsel Town. Los Angeles is where she reconnected with a member of her church youth group who liked to hoop. Perhaps you’ve heard of Stephen Curry?
They wed in 2011 and are expecting their fourth child. “I can’t wait,” the mother of three says, anticipating her new baby’s arrival. “I’m hanging in there.”
Curry, 34, who has found success as a cookbook author and restaurateur, last appeared in “A Black Lady Sketch Show” in 2021, and also has had roles on “The Bold Type,” “Ballers” and even “Hannah Montana.” In “Irish Wish” (streaming now on Netflix), she plays Heather, friend of the groolest book editor around, Maddie (Lohan).
While collaborating with author Paul (Alexander Vlahos), Maddie develops a crush, and then is crushed when Paul falls for and proposes to one of her besties, Emma (Elizabeth Tan). While Maddie tries being happy for Emma, Paul and their Irish nuptials, she makes a wish that she were the one marrying Paul, spurring an alternate reality in which she is the bride to be. But Maddie realizes her fantasy might not be as dreamy as it seems.
Luckily for Curry, the reality of working with Lohan in Ireland − where she says they experienced “all four seasons of weather in a day” − lived up to expectations.
“I got to work with one of my closest friends,” Curry says. “So that was really exciting for me. Not to mention she’s like the best in the business. So it was really cool getting to learn alongside her as well.”
When Lohan, 37, found out that her friend desired to get back into acting, she conspired with one of Curry’s sisters.
“They rallied together and got me to do (‘Irish Wish’),” Curry says. “And I’m so glad I did, because it’s always been a passion of mine. To be able to have that part of myself back has been so nice.”
Lohan made Curry comfortable with acting again by reminding her, “‘You already have the skills that you need, so just let it happen.’ And I was grateful for that. It made things a lot lighter,” Curry says.
The duo’s friendship was instigated by chef Michael Mina, Curry’s partner in International Smoke. Curry says Mina suggested to Lohan’s husband, his good friend Bader Shammas, that the “Mean Girls” star and Curry should meet. But Curry resisted at first.
“I was like, ‘What? That’s crazy. What do you mean?’ ” But Mina pleaded, and Curry met Lohan when she visited Dubai for her sister’s birthday in the spring of 2022. “And we’ve literally been friends ever since. He was right. Chef knows best.”
The two became so close that Lohan asked Curry to be the godmother of her son, Luai, welcomed last summer.
“Stephen (is godfather) by proxy, honestly. Even Lindsay was like, ‘Oh, wow! He wrote godparents on the jersey!’ ” Curry says referring to a jersey Stephen gifted Luai in February, which he signed, “Your godparents love you!” Curry adds, “I was like, ‘That guy. I knew he was going to weasel his way in somehow.’ ”
She sees the role of godmother as “the ultimate honor. It means somebody thinks that you’re a great parent. And so I felt completely honored and ready to take on the role.
“For me, a godparent is a person that will shepherd the child spiritually and in beliefs and things like that,” Curry adds. “So for somebody to task me with being the person to do that, it makes me want to cry.”