Lindsay Lohan May Soon Play Elizabeth Taylor

We swear, we couldn't make some of this stuff up if we tried.

Sure, she's only now keeping her nose - OK, let's be honest, her liver too - clean enough that she looks even remotely employable, but Lindsay Lohan seems sought-after to portray an Old Hollywood goddess.

Deadline has reported, with confirmation later by Entertainment Weekly, that Lifetime producers have sought out the troubled Lohan to star as legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor in the biopic "Elizabeth & Richard: A Love Story." As the film's name would imply, the made-for-cable drama will focus on Taylor's famously long love affair with fellow thespian Richard Burton. It's set to be led by "Amish Grace" producer Larry Thompson, and it's listed as part of Lifetime's 2011-2012 slate of  programming.

A woman as revered as Taylor could be a lot to take on for Lohan. It's hard to believe she once led such box-office-gold family hits as "Herbie: Fully Loaded," "Freaky Friday" or "Mean Girls," simply because she's spent the last several years bouncing not from big-money project to big-money project, but from the club, to court, to rehab, to jail, to community service and back again.

More recently, she's probably better known for having roles in the movie "Labor Pains," an arc on the now-departed ABC hit show "Ugly Betty" and a memorable starring role in Robert Rodriguez' 2010 ode to 1970s action films "Machete,"

More incredible? She once wasn't thought to be that different from Taylor. Consider this, from a 2004 story by Slate: "Both had domineering stage mothers, little semblance of a real childhood, fame from a young age, substance abuse issues, public emotional outpourings and copious amounts of tabloid drama. The key difference, though, is that Elizabeth Taylor had a true record of achievement before she became the most notorious movie star in America."

As it stands, it's not like casting in which Taylor will unfortunately have a say. The iconic "Cleopatra" actress - who starred in the 1963 historical epic alongside Burton - passed away this past March at the age of 79.