'The Canyons' director Paul Schrader explains how Lindsay Lohan landed the lead, admits he was 'uncomfortable with her ...

A week into shooting her newest film The Canyons, Lindsay Lohans director is singing her praises.

Director Paul Schrader admitted on the film's Facebook page that he only considered Lohan for the role when model Monica Gambee had backed out.

He also said he only agreed to give Lohan a chance if she "agreed to the micro-budget salary, did a screen test and completed Liz and Dick on schedule." He did admit he was uncomfortable with her track history.

Although she came late to the casting of Tara, he said "everything that has made her such an interesting screen presence came alive in that test," Schrader said, Hollywire reports. "I decided to use her."

On his blog, Lohans co-star James Deen also gushed about her.

My favorite part of the day was sitting with Lindsay Lohan (who is amazing) and our director Paul Schrader (who is also amazing) and planning out how we would shoot our love scenes in the movie, he wrote, the Daily Mail reports.