'Mad Men' Star, Former Playboy Bunny Could Play Anna Nicole Smith

To play the late Anna Nicole Smith, Emmy-nominated "Mad Men" star Christina Hendricks could soon be neck-and-neck with Smith's Playboy contemporary Jenny McCarthy.

Both the gorgeous model, actress and autism-awareness activist and the scarlet-headed, voluptuous Joan Harris of the AMC drama are among Lifetime's top choices to play the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year and eventual reality star in a planned biopic, The Daily Express reports. After a rise from small-town wild child, to Guess Jeans girl, to Playmate, to unlikely heir to a late millionaire's fortune and star of E!'s "The Anna Nicole Show" reality series, Smith died of a drug overdose in 2007.

"They are neck-and-neck," a source told the Express. "The producers love them both and it could come down to a final audition to determine who will get one of the most sought-after parts in Hollywood right now. Both women really wowed the producers, who were especially bowled over by how strikingly similar Christina with a blonde wig looked to Anna Nicole."

A Lifetime movie? Terribly "sought-after?" Well, the network did land Lindsay Lohan to portray Elizabeth Taylor, so I suppose stranger things have proved true.

Worth noting: Hendricks herself is actually a natural blonde, as seen during her two appearances on FOX's too-short-lived space western "Firefly" pre-"Mad Men," but she's more a strawberry blonde and not a match to Smith's practically platinum-blonde locks. On the other hand, place her in a long wig with her classically curvy, phenomenal figure, and she'd indeed be Smith's match. Add Hendricks' proven prowess for delivering lines with a subdued, Monroe-like demure whisper of a voice that she could surely pitch up to ape Smith's notoriously "bimbo blonde" tone and McCarthy could be hard pressed to top her.

On the other hand, McCarthy has her own values that she brings to the table. Hendricks is more the ringer in body shape and probably to portray Smith's insecurities with more finesse, really "becoming" the troubled, controversial former model. However, McCarthy wouldn't need the wig and would have sort of an "inside track" insight of having known Smith as a contemporary. In fact, she received her own 1994 Playmate of the Year reign as an immediate successor to Smith's. Her own look isn't exactly far off Smith's, either.

What's more, Hendricks would present the challenge of having to schedule around her filming of the upcoming sixth season of "Mad Men." Then again, with a rumored shooting date set some time before Christmas 2012, Hendricks' scenes could be shot before her AMC obligations present an issue.

Oscar nominee James Cromwell is reportedly close himself to signing on to play J. Howard Marshall, the elderly Texas billionaire who married Smith and died 14 months later at age 90. The pair's marriage tied her up in a legal battle over Marshall's will pitting Smith against Marshall's family. To pay her mounting bills, Smith starred in "The Anna Nicole Show" on E!, which drew criticism from many for exploiting Smith at a stage in her life marred by a drug-addled haze in which she often appeared to have little to no awareness of herself or what was going on around her. Six months before Smith's death, her son Daniel died of a drug-related heart attack at age 20.

Actress Isabella Rapone was a friend to Smith of over a decade. She hopes that whoever plays her does so with respect to the women beneath the sex-symbol status.

"She was anything but the gold-digger many people perceived her as," Rapone said. "She worshipped the ground her son walked on. I think if he hadn't died so young, Anna Nicole might well be alive today. His death plunged her into a terrible depressions and it was as if she simply gave up."

Hmm. Hendricks absolutely has prowess in selling a woman broken by duress. Then again, McCarthy - though more a veteran of comedy than drama via her roles in MTV's dating game show "Singled Out" and in film via roles like her brief one in the Wayans Bros.' first "Scary Movie" spoof - is a famously devoted mother herself, so such motivation would hardly be a stretch to summon forth.

This might be too close to call.