It’s pretty clear what Elizabeth Taylor and Lindsay Lohan have in common: Ms. Taylor was one of Hollywood’s most talented and prolific actresses who performed in such enduring films as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Suddenly, Last Summer” and “Butterfield 8,” while Ms. Lohan has performed janitorial duties at a morgue while awaiting a probation violation hearing.
Or, to put it another way, it’s not entirely clear what Ms. Taylor and Ms. Lohan have in common besides careers as child stars and a penchant for attracting the tabloid news media. But Ms. Lohan will soon have a chance to convince audiences otherwise in a made-for-television movie that casts her as Ms. Taylor.
The Lifetime cable channel announced on Monday that Ms. Lohan, the troubled star of “Mean Girls” and “Herbie: Fully Loaded” who has lately posed for Playboy magazine, hosted “Saturday Night Live” and had her probation ended, will play a lead roles in its original movie “Liz & Dick,” which will focus on Ms. Taylor’s tempestuous romantic history with Richard Burton.
No casting was immediately announced for the role of Richard Burton, but production on “Liz & Dick” is set to begin in June with a screenplay by Christopher Monger (“Temple Grandin”).
In a statement perhaps meant to play up the similarities between Ms. Lohan and her role, Lifetime noted how Ms. Taylor and Mr. Burton spent their lives “swarmed by paparazzi” as their “love affair was played out entirely in front of the global press.”
And in a statement perhaps meant to forestall any further head scratching for the time being, Ms. Lohan said: “I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor. She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well. I am very honored to have been asked to play this role.”
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