'Lindsay Lohan HAD to play Liz' and Elizabeth Taylor would be 'tickled pink' to see her, says producer

PUBLISHED: 17:31 EST, 1 February 2013 | UPDATED: 18:29 EST, 1 February 2013

Liz & Dick is one of the most anticipated films of the year... but not necessarily for all the right reasons. The new TV movie about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's tumultuous love story has been generating headlines ever since its inception two years ago - not just for its subject matter, but for the casting of Lindsay Lohan in the starring role of Liz Taylor.

Some wondered openly whether having Lohan - a former child star best known for her role in the 2004 film Mean Girls but latterly notorious for her hard-partying ways and run-ins with the law - play one of Hollywood's most luminous screen goddesses wasn't just a piece of headline-grabbing casting.

Actress Lindsay Lohan in the character of actress Elizabeth Taylor for the television movie Liz & Dick

The film's producer, Larry A Thompson, concedes, 'I'd be naive if I said it wasn't an unusual piece of casting, but it wasn't a stunt. Lindsay was pretty much what the script called for, but because of her antics - being on probation, being in jail - it seemed wrong. I think once people see the movie they'll change their minds.'

The film covers the relationship between Taylor and Burton (played by New Zealand-born actor Grant Bowler) from their first meeting in Hollywood through to their scandalous affair on the set of the 1963 film Cleopatra, two marriages and subsequent divorces.

Taylor, ! who was 32 when she first married Burton, died in 2011 at 79, and according to Thompson, 'Lots of younger people think of her as just some old lady sitting in a wheelchair with Michael Jackson by her side, not as the glamorous young movie star she once was.

'So we wanted to marry the old Hollywood with the new. That forced me to create a short list of actresses who could play the part, including Megan Fox [Transformers], Olivia Wilde [Cowboys & Aliens] and British actress Kate Beckinsale [Underworld], but Lindsay was on the list from day one.'

Lindsay Lohan and Grant Bowler portraying Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 'Liz and Dick'

Much has been made of the parallels between the lives of Taylor and Lohan, not least by Lohan herself, who recently said, 'I related to her so much because of her position in the public eye, and the media obsession with her and the ups and downs in her relationships and life', the implication being that few modern-day actresses were as equipped to understand the vagaries of Hollywood life as her.

But while Elizabeth Taylor enjoyed a career spanning some 60 years and won Oscars for her roles in Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, this is the first time Lindsay, 26, has been in front of the cameras for two years.

A difficult spell saw her spend three months in rehab at the Betty Ford Center under a court order for substance abuse (Taylor was a patient at the same clinic for alcohol and prescription drug abuse), as well as a jail sentence for violating her probation. Liz & Dick is considered her last chance to rehabilitate her reputation.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the film Cleopatra

Yet even before filming began, things didn't go smoothly. Thompson had to take out 158,000 'incarceration insurance' through Lloyd's of London for the 21-day shoot in case Lohan found herself in more trouble.

'She was on two different probations at the time we dealt with her,' he explains, 'which would have caused problems if we'd shot outside America as we'd originally planned. I wasn't going to use her without it.'

Then, during the shoot last June, Lohan allegedly ploughed her rented Porsche into the back of a lorry while driving in LA. 'About a hundred of us were sitting around waiting for her on set when we found out she'd had an accident.

Everyone was worried about her but when we found out she was OK, we were annoyed because she arrived late and wasn't capable of acting that day.' Was she often late?

Thompson laughs, 'Oh my goodness, yes! And because she hadn't acted in quite some time, what we both underestimated was the physical and emotional discipline required for the shoot. I did age a bit during filming, I don't mind telling you.'

Thompson, a gregarious 68-year-old veteran of the Hollywood movie scene, already has several TV biopics under his belt, including the 1988 film The Woman He Loved starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, which recounted the love story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.

Certainly the attention to detail with regard to Lohan's make-up and costumes is exquisite, and in some of the film's publicity shots the red-haired actress bears a striking resemblance to the darkly beautiful Taylor.

Elizabeth Taylor and Ri! chard Bur! ton attend the Academy Awards ceremonies, Los Angeles, California, April 7, 1970

But not even this has been enough to save the movie from a drubbing in the States, with many critics slamming Lohan's lack of weight for such an iconic role - not just on a professional level, but physically too (her slim frame seems a little too thin for the famously voluptuous Taylor).

The most favourable reviews have been reserved for Grant Bowler, most famous for the role of Cooter in the TV series True Blood, and his approximation of Burton's earthy Welsh tones has drawn a lot of praise. 'Grant worked on his voice throughout the movie,' says Thompson.

Lindsay Lohan on the set of The Parent Trap in 1998

'It was one of the things Richard Burton was known for and one of the things Elizabeth Taylor fell in love with, so it almost became a character in the film.'

Thompson had originally wanted a Welsh actor to play the part of Burton. 'We talked to Ioan Gruffudd [Hornblower],' he says, 'but we couldn't make the deal. I also flew to London specifically to see Michael Sheen [Frost/Nixon] who was appearing in Hamlet.

'I told him, There are a lot of actors who've played Hamlet well, but never anyone who's played Richard Burton well. But he was non-committal. In the end though, I think Grant steals the movie.'

Whether Liz & Dick does help revive Lohan's flagging career remains to be seen, but Thompson is convinced he made the right decision.

'I met Elizabeth Taylor at her home during the 90s to talk about a theatre company she was involved with,' he says, 'and I had to sit in her living room waiting for her for 30 minutes before she made her entrance.

'So when one critic said, "I bet Elizabeth Taylor would be rolling in her grave to see Lindsay Lohan pla! ying her"! , I had to disagree. Everything Liz Taylor did was big and loud and I think she'd be tickled pink I hired Lindsay Lohan to play her.'

Liz & Dick will be shown in the UK later this year