Everyone has been wringing their hands over Lindsay Lohan’s casting as Elizabeth Taylor, for good reason. Even though it’s just a dumb, obviously budget Lifetime disaster, it’s the principle of the thing! When talking about one of the greatest beauties (and one of the greatest activists/philanthropists/actresses) of the 20th century, it speaks volumes about the lack of respect *SOME* people have when it’s considered acceptable to cast a busted crackhead in the role. Even if it is a Lifetime movie, they seriously could have gotten a higher-quality actress for the role. That’s basically how Elizabeth’s family feels too:
Elizabeth Taylor’s family and friends are furious that Lindsay Lohan has been cast to play the screen goddess in a TV movie, insiders say.
“Liz’s sons, Michael and Chris Wilding, feel there are many other actresses who are far more qualified to play their famous mother,” a family friend told The Enquirer. “They think gorgeous and talented stars such as Cate Blanchett or Emily Blunt should have been short-listed for the role. Liz’s children feel their mom deserved better!”
“Liz was not only a great movie star, but a great philanthropist, and it’s a slap in the face to her memory to have this errant party girl play her,” huffed the family friend. “She’d be screaming bloody murder over this whole fiasco!”
[From The Enquirer, print edition]
Well, La Blanchett and Emily Blunt would never deign to appear in a Lifetime movie, but producers definitely could have looked around to find someone who… I don’t know… LOOKS like Elizabeth Taylor. The thing about Lindsay Lohan is that she could have easily worked her Ann-Margret sex kitten appeal (and stayed ginger and sober-ish), but the Cracken spent years trying to remake herself into some kind of Marilyn Monroe crackie drag queen. I take that back – most of the Marilyn drag queens I’ve seen look worlds better than Lindsay. What was my point? Ah, yes. They should have cast someone famous for being a brunette. Like, Jessica Szohr or Kat Dennings or something.
Oh, and producers still haven’t cast the Richard Burton role. They start filming in the beginning of June! There’s not much time to find whatever poor bastard takes the role. And yes, I saw that LaineyGossip suggested Eddie Cibrian for the role. That would certain be a… layered comedic performance. Trying to watch Eddie do a Welsh accent, trying to watch Eddie “act”, trying to watch Eddie and the Cracken deny their love.
One last thing – Radar has a story about whether or not the DA will actually charge the Cracken with any crime for all of the hitting-and-running and stuff. You can read the story here.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and PCN.
There is no resemblance other than chromasone count. Can’t even Lifetime do better?
Im not sure. I wonder what we would have know about Elizabeth Taylor had the tabloids existed to the degree they did back then. Dont forget, this is someone that barely spent time between the 60s-90s single. She was usually married within 6 months of being divorced. I could have sworn she was also abusive, but that may have been someone else. A quick look at her marriage history is enough for a laugh. Every new relationship was either someone she was cheating with before she divorced her previous husband or they died and she ended up marrying her husbands friend. I doubt her career would have lasted as long today. Hollywood is stupid.
On the other hands, based on looks alone? Horrible choice.
Obviously, you have never seen ET’s work in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Suddenly Last Summer,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”,”Butterfield 8,” “Giant,” “The Last Time I Saw Paris” or her work on stage in “The Little Foxes.” Clearly, celebrity has masked her considerable talent, but she was one of the few women to be honored by the AFI (American Film Institute)and shares that honor with Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Barbra Streisand, Barbara Stanwyck, and this year’s recipient, Shirley Maclaine. As a former teacher of 32 years, I felt the need to urge you to do your “homework” before attacking someone on her character and dismissing her body of work, as well as her philanthropic contributions to society.
I agree with them, she is the worst possible choice for this role. I’m never going to watch it but hey, that’s just me.
no, it’s not just you-I have no plans to watch this crap.. and that first picture is quite scary, be afraid to go in that water..
well unless you have a nielsen box it’ll have no affect on the ratings lol
Is Kim Kartrashian worse?
At least KK is committed to her ‘job’
iagree
It occurred to me after looking at the first picture – Dita von Teese should play her!!!
Seriously she should! Physically speaking it doesn’t get much closer, Megan Fox would have been a good choice too but the acting + her face being sometimes jacked with ps doesn’t bode well.
She would look great as Liz but she can’t speak all that great.
Awesome….a Lindsay/Leann post, can’t ask for more (or less) than that!
Have to agree that Crackie playing Elizabeth Taylor is a slap in the face to her family, fans, and all humanity.
Ediot cast as Burton would be friggen fantastic (it was mentioned by someone here a while ago)…Leann could play the asp in the Cleopatra scene.
Love the name Ediot! LOL! But seriously, I think it was a slap in the face that Lifetime, and not HBO or even Showtime, is making the movie.
It’s too bad Harvey Keitel isn’t younger – I think he’d make a great Richard.
Oh please let eddie play burton! Between the crack drama, and leann competing for papparazzi attention, that’ll be the craziest movieset ever!
Oh I agree- think of the daily gossip stories that would come from that movie set! LeAnn and Lindsay, my two favorite entertainers… of course they are not entertaining me with their acting or singing, but still!
Ew at Jessica Szohr. This is a terrible idea to let Lindsey play Liz, can Lifetime just die as a network already? They lost touch a long time ago and this oy proves it all the more.
I think Lindsay bears an uncanny likeness to Elizabeth Taylor. Well, if you ignore the huge differences in facial and body structure, the minor dozen octave differences between their voices, legal and social status, acting abilities, morality, their differing abilities to accept responsibility, and intellectual capabilities. As long as you ignore all those differences, they’re practically identical!
🙂
HAAAAA! 🙂
Freckles, too.
I know! It’s always been a challenge to discern who is Liz & who is Lindsay. It’s uncanny.
And they do both have boobs! 😉
wait…aren’t all the photos above of the same person? (sarcasm font in capitals) 🙂
Elizabeth Taylor was beyond gorgeous. They should have gotten Megan fox to play her instead.
Megan fox ha! There is a big difference between the two and that being Megan is a very un natural looking woman, her sausage looking collagen lips, fake looking nose and waxy looking face, would not suit the role. Liz was natural in the face and classier looking. Megan is fake and cheap looking. People need to start looking at Megan Fox for what she really is. A fake looking, terrible actress. Who shouldn’t even be famouse.its funny how she denies having surgery, when she doesn’t even look like the same girl.Sherylin Fenn was the best choice for Liz Taylor!
The only actress today that looks amazingly like Elizabeth Taylor is Alexis Kiley. The rest of Hollywood actresses can’t even compare to Elizabeth Taylor’s unique beauty except for Alexis Kiley. Go to any website and look at the lady and judge for yourself. She is the next Elizabeth Taylor, and the one who should have played Liz. Sherilyn Fenn would be my second choice.
LMFAO Jessica Szohr or Kat Dennings no, Lifetime hit the jackpot with Lindsay because this is ALL about ratings and buzz, how can people NOT see that? crying about it isn’t gona make them change their minds, they know with Lohan they’re gonna get HUGE ratings. Hollywood is all about $$$$ and Lohan is good for business, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT how is this a surprise to anyone?
Absolutely, there is no other reason for this casting except to pull big ratings to see a trainwreck. Nobody would’ve even known this was being made if they didn’t put her name in it for publicity.
Sure, this Is stunt casting and ratings will be strong as most will watch, kinda like a train wreck. It is transparent to all of us.
But I have to wonder why Lifetime is willing to do this when they have spent lots of money recently to rebrand themselves (new logo and all) and are trying desperately to shake their old image and appeal to what they call today’s multitasking woman. This move does not appeal to me.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lifetime-new-logo-your-life-your-time-tagline-318793
I might be alone here, but I have never seen the “great beauty” of Taylor. Attractive, yes, but not something I’d consider legendary.
Anyway, to be fair, she was a drug addict and drunk herself at roughly the same age. And her behaviour and sense of entitlement at the same time was legendarily bad.
But she also did everything with grace, somehow. So Lindsay’s a sh-t choice.
Exactly, the only difference was she managed to keep herself looking better than Lindsey has. It’s all for ratings, not accuracy and Lifetime will get that.
With her stunning violet eyes with dark lashes and beautiful skin tone with a smattering of freckles across her perfect nose, she was beyond striking.
To be fair, we’re comparing two different time periods. If the media saturation/celeb-obsession existed back then, then maybe Taylor wouldn’t have fared much better than LiLo.
Also, I don’t think she’s Angelina-level of beauty (but who is?) but she was stunning in her own right-her eyes were mesmerizing..
Lol. You don’t think Liz Taylor is Angelina beautiful? Liz makes Jolie look like a bug. Jolie is not even the most beautiful actress today. Ever see Charlize Theron or Sophia Vergara?
I happen to think Elizabeth to be better looking than Angelina. She was a legendary beauty because she had a near perfect classical face, which some people might consider boring orplain. Regardless, even science agrees that Elizabeth was beautiful, and though we may have preferences, she was undeniably attractive. Thats why i find it so hard to accept lindsay as elizabeth tylor, even if it is just a lifetime movie. There is no physical resemblance, nor is the talent there to make LL acceptable. Elizabeth’s family is right, casting LL is a huge disgrace to her family and to her fans,
Honestly, I think I’m one of the few who has never found Angelina Jolie beautiful or even attractive. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Liz Taylor was stunning and far more beautiful than Angelina IMO, like leagues more. Now Charlize Theron is a beauty.
Wow, what?? Liz Taylor isent as beautiful as Angelina?? Angelina is NOTHING compared to Liz. Liz was beyond exqusit.
Sorry to disagree with you but Angelina is no where near the universe that Taylor inhabits with regard to legendary beauty. If anything Angelina is unique because she is strange looking, and, that is all.
Taylor had the rareist of rareist beauty that comes only every several hundred years. in other words rare!
I get what you mean and agree.
For me Elyzabeth Taylor was a classical beauty with exceptional color of eyes, body wise though curvy like most actresses her generation, she wasn’t all that compared to many her generation. I remembered her saying that during their fights Burton used to mock her short fat legs as he said.
For me her beauty was in the same line as Heidy Lamar (more beautiful to me) and Vivien Leigh. extremely beautiful feminine face, timeless and classical beauties.
I personally loved more the exotic/mixed looking type usually leggy and/or tall brunettes like Gene Thierney, Rita Hayworth, Angelina Jolie circa 2004, Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida. Those brunettes have that specific felininess about their features…They ooze cat like aura and had tremendous sex appeal at the height of their beauty.
For me they have more sex appeal related to their beauty while the likes of Miss Taylor and Vivien Leigh had more feminine grace.
I agree with you. I do think Liz was a better actress. I don’t think Lohan has a shred of talent.
Yes, your alone there.
And, most Hollywood personalities are afflicted with the shortcomings you spoke of. These shortcomings arent unique to Liz Taylor.
LOL……Can you just see the backstage drama now……
Since Lindsay is trying to “be” Liz she will Naturelly have to seduce and screw Eddie’s brains out lik Liz did old Dicky…and I don’t think LeAnn os going give up her man as easily as Sybil did Richard….Talk about catfighting and assualt and maybe even murder…LeAnne will fight for her man..and Lindsay would come out on the short end of the stick..minus her extensions and fake teeth…..
That would be hilarious and truly, the only reason to support Lohan in the role.
I would put my money on the Cracken to come out the winner of a street fight with LeeAnn. Blohan is as tenacious as a hungry pit bull trying to eat a piece of meat.
Plus, she’s on drugs, and meth-madness can give a ho some serious strength along with a case of the crazies!
Yep Bess…..Blohan ” dresses like a princess and fights like a whore ” .
Golly…you’re onto something here. These events taking place would overload gossip sites and tabloids for weeks if not months if they play it right. Huvane won’t get a look-in for the Aniston stories.
That top pic… Seen it before, but JFC. Just say no, kids!
It’s a back handed slap to the face. Sadly people will watch señora crackhead out of curiosity to see how bad she’ll do.
I won’t watch (I don’t want her face breaking my TV screen, and I DEF don’t want to see the Crackie in HD) but I will be reading the cracknanigans that occur on-set.
THAT’S entertainment!
I know it’s been said before, but I’ll repeat it anyway: this is an obvious pr move. And it works, cause we’re ALL talking about this silly little Lifetime movie project that no-one would have watched if it weren’t for miss Lohan and her crackenanigans. I know everyone is SAYING they wouldn’t watch it anyway, but still… it’s all free publicity. Well played, Lifetime.
a slap in the face ? No. More like a kick in the butt .
I don’t watch the Lifetime network anyway. So missing out on the Cracken trying to play Liz Taylor is no big loss to me. They could get the porta-potty sex king Gerard Butler to play Richard Burton. Those two dirtbags would make quite the pair
Gerard Butler (or is it Gerald?) would be fabulous as Richard Burton, but isn’t Lifetime TV Movie a bit below his calling?
He definitely has the macho appeal of Burton, who was a tortured man of great intelligence. He educated Elizabeth in many ways.
after seeing this poster, all i can think of is Olivia Wilde for Liz.
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/wilde-about-liz-taylor/
it’s by Graphic Designer Pascal Witaszek and came from the same set as the Ryan Gosling’s Walt Disney biopic poster.
plus, the designer imagined it to be shot by Stephen Daldry with Russell Crowe cast there as well.
but then again, maybe too good for Lifetime.
Everyone is too good for Lifetime.
Olivia Wilde, now that’s an idea!!!
Yeah! It has been ages since we last saw the Screee picture!!
While Liz was FAR from a saint (drinking, drugs, Eddie Fisher…) the sum total of her life and her incredible caring for others made her pretty spectacular. I can see why her family is upset that the first movie being made stars Dame Self-Absorption/Countess of Crime.
I am LOVING the fact that she might be back in jail soon either for the hit and run or the assault. And then there is the civil case for the hijacking coming up. She finally picked on the wrong people, people who want her to be held accountable for her actions.
Summer’s a-comin’ so I’m sure we’ll have TONS more SCREEEEEE pix. Just make sure you know which beach she’s at, so you can avoid it until HazMat’s had a chance to disinfect it! 😉
Jessica Stroup would be perfect IMO. She definitely has the look and (no offense) but she is Lifetime-caliber actress. Not terrible but not great either. Definitely has on-screen charisma at least ..
BAHAHAA! Kaiser I love these pictures you put up of Lindsay. She’s such a beautiful glamourous movie star!
She is so wrong for the role ,she is not even close to Liz Taylor beauty she looks very dirty and old .
total slap in the face to family and memory of Elizabeth Taylor. I would be mortified if I was Elizabeth…..
I saw Lindsay’s upcoming Emmy-worthy role referred to elsewhere as “ElizaMeth Taylor. ” Who doesn’t feel sorry for poor Elizabeth, spinning like a top in her grave?
Sorry for the fam for being bitch slapped like that.
Love the coke boogers in the one pic.
For ethical reasons, it seems as though Lifetime would have consulted the family first. No respect for Lifetime now, even as a “I’m sick and need to lay on the couch and watch dribble” channel. Lifetime AND Lohan have slapped Taylor’s memory and family in the face.
Fast forward highlights of the famous and infamous lives filmed in one hour and twenty minutes, while the actors are stuck in a porta potty at a rock concert with Gerald Butler and Lilo sharing a drug hit and hallucinating they are Liz and Dick.. How hard is that..?
I agree with the family it’s a slap in the face for Lindsay to be cast as Liz when they could’ve asked Daisy Bevan to play younger Liz and Melissa Newman to play older Liz and both of them actually knew her intimately their entire lives. infact is was Melissa’s mum that beat Liz out of her first oscar in 1958 and they also shared a birthday February 27th
OMG! Richard Burton was hot!
I just googled him and guess what? You’re right! OMG, hot.
Hell yah, Eddie Cibrian in role of Dick. Not only world’s first campy comedy about Liz but you know that Eddie will hit on Lindsay. Or Lindsay on Eddie. And the LeAnn Rimes drama would be eppic. Do it, Lifetime, do it!
No one plays Elisabeth but Elizabeth
You beat me to it. Didn’t she say that herself right before she died?
Poor thing is probably rolling in her grave.
Exactly.
I don’t really think we need a movie about Liz, I think we should let the lady’s work stand for itself and allow her to rest in piece. An actress playing an actress just seems…silly, no matter the casting, though choosing The Cracken seems like an especially poor decision.
Remember Sherilyn Fenn, who back in the early 90s was getting attention for her role in “Twin Peaks” and David Lynch movies, played Liz Taylor in a cable movie? Looks wise she was a great choice to play Taylor or even Eva Gardner:
http://snarkerati.com/galleries/index.php/Sherilyn-Fenn
Burton was a good actor, but he has too much of a boozer-look for my taste. His face always looked banged up.
That’s what I said several threads ago: a younger Sherilyn Fenn would have been perfect.
Liz Taylor was so beautiful *sigh* why cant women let themselves be naturally pretty anymore? Its sad hollywood plumps, tweaks, and botoxes the heck out of women and calls it beauty.
and i heart the mighty sea cracken in the top photo. shes so ick
When you look at that one photo, you can see that the tip of Elizabeth Taylor’s nose pulls slightly to the side. I love it. She looks like such a goddess, but still human and natural. *sigh*
Wowsa, Liz’s eyes were the most amazing shade of blue. You can’t take your own eyes off them.
Who knows? Maybe after the “movie” is made and proves to be an utter disaster an inside source it will spill and admit that Li-LOW was the bottom of the barrel/last ditch effort after they were turned down by every quality starlet in town. I am starting to have some serious doubts that she was truly their first choice.
My dad has a friend who lives in LA, met her at hospital in 1960’s when he was resident. Said her eyes really were VIOLET
I’ve heard that, too. My aunt met Paul Newman and said the same about his eyes, as well.
Rachel Weisz should play Elizabeth Taylor.
Good call. Racehl would be great and Anne Hathaway would be good also – not great but WAY better than Lindsey.
I never foud liz to be angelina jolie pretty but someone like megan fox would have been better (but her acting).
I dunno — maybe she can pull it off. I’m rooting for her. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan but I remember how cute she was when she was a child actor and I really would like to see her pull it together. I just love happy endings!
I feel so bad for Elizabeth & her family that they cast this untalented crack head.
I think so too! It’s a total slap in the face. I’m so hoping it doesn’t even happen. Luckily, due to Lindsay’s supreme unprofessionalism, there is a good chance it won’t! 🙂
She is a talented actress, but if I were lifetime, I would write a pretty hefty contingency plan into the contract to cover their collective backsides, as let’s face it, if you pet a burnin’ dog, you are going to get burned.
Oh my god, and then Cibrian and Lohan will have an on-set affair, and he’ll leave Leann for her, and four months later Lindsay and Eddie will get married on a TLC special, “Lindsay and Eddie: Brought Together By Destiny,” and the following Twitter fallout between Leann and Lindsay will be so intense, it will actually register on a geiger counter.
Please make this happen.
Eva Green could play Elizabeth.
BEST PICTURE EVER, it’s my fave, thanks for using it again! I genuinely want Lindsay and Eddie to have an affair, my mind would explode with the epicness of it all!
Can someone please tell me why Lohan keeps getting free passes? I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when she was younger as somebody who went astray because of her batshit stage parents, but she’s more than old enough to have straightened herself out.
Maybe I’m not fully knowledgable of all the times she’s been to court and her trials, but it seems like judges have been really lenient with her. Even a shitty Lifetime role seems like overindulgence and overestimation of her ability to keep it together.
IDK why, but for some reason I am looking forward to this mess of a movie, and I hardly ever watch Lifetime. As someone posted earlier, Gerard Butler would make an awesome Richard Burton, although I think he is too big for TV now. Linds and Gerry would embody the spirit if not the looks of the couple. Liz and Burt were a mess in real life, got married and divorced twice and he was a drunk. I would love to read a good gossipy tell all about Liz.
In all seriousness:
It occurred to me today that J.Lo, after slew of relatively minor roles, made it big by starring in Selena, her big break. Lifetime could have gone this route, auditioning hundreds of unknowns with the caveat that no one without a passing likeness to Taylor need apply. It would certainly have cost Lifetime far less to hire an unknown, less to insure her, and less in actress demands on the studio. They might well have gotten in return a rising star who might have been beholden to them for future projects as a return for giving her her first big break. Instead, they chose Lindsay.
The comments about how Lifetime is going for the train-wreck factor, seen in this light, are probably more accurate than we know. It’s almost as if they deliberately hired LL knowing she would show up late every day, causing a huge increase in traffic among celebrity websites due to all the diva stories leaking about Lindsay like alcohol dribble down her mouth, in return for some payola.
In conclusion, I hope they give the people actually working on the Lifetime set hazard pay for dealing with the expected diva explosions. They are going to need it.
Blohan couldn’t get through her 3 days of work on GLEE without causing problems and going AWOL. There’s no way she’ll be able to hold it together to shoot a full length movie.
Good comment however one can surmise that the role of Selena was the best acting J.Lo ever did. J.Lo’s career has been based on stardom and celebrity versus talent. She cannot sing and her acting is C-. She was a Fly Girl on a TV show in the early 90’s. She sells sex very well. It demonstrates just how low our expectations are of entertainers today. There will never be another Elizabeth Taylor. She was remarkable.
In Living Color, the Wayans’ show. Jim Carrey was on it as well.
The most rational choice for Lohan’s Elizabeth would be Sam Ronson as Burton.
I wouldn’t have thought of it, but Kat Dennings is kind of a inspired option – she’s built more like a fifties actress, and has really big, expressive blue eyes. Put her in the right makeup and clothes…not to mention, she CAN ACT and seems to have her shit together.
The Taylor family and Elizabeth Taylor’s close friends wanted actress Alexis Kiley to protray Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime biopic.
Lohan is a joke.
when I first heard about this casting decision, the first thing I thought was, well….the director obviously doesnt give a damn about Liz Taylor at all if they are going to cast Lilo and if they dont give a damn, then the movie will tank. Hard. If they wanted some hype and attention, then they got it. yay. I mean who cares, it is a lifetime movie..and the title of it is Liz&Dick. Klassy. Maybe someone will make a real movie about her someday.
The only actress today that looks amazingly like Elizabeth Taylor is Alexis Kiley. The rest of Hollywood actresses can’t even compare to Elizabeth Taylor’s unique beauty except for Alexis Kiley. Go to any website and look at the lady and judge for yourself. She is the next Elizabeth Taylor, and the one who should have played Liz. Sherilyn Fenn would be my second choice.