Lohan comeback forges ahead with Liz Taylor role

Actress Lindsay Lohan smiles during a progress report hearing in her DUI case at Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles, California, March 29, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Lindsay Lohan is set to play iconic screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in a new TV movie, Lifetime Television said on Monday, confirming what Lohan has claimed for weeks as she forges ahead with her comeback from legal and personal troubles.

Lohan, 25, is the first name to be announced for Lifetime's original movie "Liz & Dick," based on the true story of Taylor's passionate romance with actor Richard Burton, whom she married twice throughout her life.

"I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor. She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well," Lohan said in a statement, adding that she was "honored" to play the icon.

Taylor, widely recognized for beauty and glamour, met Burton on the set of the 1963 film "Cleopatra," and thus began a passionate and tumultuous romance that made headlines worldwide as they married and divorced twice over the years.

Lohan had talked about her role in the TV movie last month in an interview, and she posted a picture of herself dressed as Taylor as her Twitter profile. But there had been no official confirmation from the network until Monday.

The "Mean Girls" actress has been striving to turn around her bad girl image in recent months after being in and out of jail, rehab and court since 2007.

She was released in March from almost five years of formal probation stemming from a 2007 drunk driving and cocaine possession arrest. She recently returned to TV sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" and landed a guest spot on Fox's hit TV musical comedy "Glee."