Kevin Mazur/WireImage;Amy Graves/WireImage
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The latest news in the tumultuous life of Lindsay Lohan? The 25-year-old actress, whose rehab stints and legal troubles have all but eclipsed her professional career, is in talks to play the late Elizabeth Taylor in an upcoming Lifetime movie, according to Deadline.com.
The film, Liz and Dick, sounds like typical Lifetime fare (i.e. dramatically cheesy). It focuses on the years Taylor spent in a tempestuous public love affair with Richard Burton. And the mere mention that Lohan might star in it has led to a field day for entertainment critics.
"Lindsay Lohan hasn't hit bottom yet," cracks Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times. "She may be doing a movie for Lifetime."
"From the pokey to Playboy to … playing one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood?" writes Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly.
"Is this a good opportunity for Lohan?" wonders Jen Chaney of The Washington Post. "Or is it sacrilege to imagine her assuming the role of the Oscar winner and AIDS activist?"
Whether you're a Lindsay fan who considers that a Lifetime movie would be below her, or a Liz fan appalled that a tabloid queen might portray the talented icon, there's no denying that the headline-grabbing Lohan is not a bad fit for the role.
Like Taylor, Lohan has been a child star, has lived her young life in a glaring spotlight, and has conducted herself in public with a sassy joie de vivre. Like Taylor, she has struggled with substance abuse, and yes, also like Taylor, she has posed for Playboy. (Taylor's pictorial was semi-nude, but equally racy for her time.)
Taylor herself was not above acting in TV films, and she even appeared on a few soap operas. Her fans might protest that she was an accomplished and award-winning actress before her personal life went off the rails. But it seems unfair to block Lohan from playing her just because she hasn't yet earned her own hardware. Had Jennifer Love Hewitt won an Oscar before playing Audrey Hepburn in the 2000 made-for-TV movie, The Audrey Hepburn Story?
Granted, that role didn't exactly propel Hewitt into the great actor stratosphere. But after all that she's been through these past few years, Lohan's got to start somewhere to reboot her career. Doesn't she deserve this chance?
