Lindsay Lohan to play Elizabeth Taylor

It's official: Lindsay Lohan has been formally cast to play Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime TV movie "Liz & Dick," about screen icon Taylor's tempestuous and storied romance with actor Richard Burton.

Principal photography is scheduled to begin in early June in Los Angeles, said the cable network. Executive producer Larry Thompson, who said in January he had also been considering Megan Fox for the role, had previously planned to shoot in Canada.

Lohan, 25, said in a statement: "I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor. She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well. I am very honored to have been asked to play this role."

Lifetime's executive vice president of programming, Rob Sharenow, said Lohan had "the talent, beauty and intrigue" to play the two-time Oscar-winner, who died in March 2011 at 79.

Christopher Monger, who wrote the Emmy Award-winning TV-movie "Temple Grandin" (2010), is the screenwriter.