Image Credit: Playboy

From the pokey to Playboy to … playing one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood?

Hey, Hollywood loves a good comeback, even if it involves Lindsay Lohan: It was reported Tuesday and confirmed by EW that Lohan, whose pictorial in Playboy allegedly spawned record sales, is in early talks to play the late Elizabeth Taylor for an original flick Elizabeth & Richard: A Love Story for Lifetime. The movie, which would take a look back at Taylor’s long and very public relationship with Richard Burton, is from producer Larry Thompson (Amish Grace). It was announced earlier as part as Lifetime’s 2011-12 development slate.

Lohan gained acclaim for her performances in flicks like Freaky Friday and Mean Girls but her star power stalled when her personal life began to eclipse her once-promising career. She has worked sporadically — she co-starred in Machete in 2010 and Ugly Betty two years before that — but she’s more apt these days to generate headlines for her appearances in and outside a courtroom, or around a morgue.

It wouldn’t be a massive stretch for Lohan to play Taylor. Like the late actress — who died in Los Angeles in March at age 79 — Lohan grew up in spotlight. She began her career at age 3 as a model and did commercial work before launching an acting career on TV and the big screen.

But Lohan, 25, never won an Oscar (not that her Blimp Award from Nickelodeon for her work in Herbie’s Fully Loaded should be taken lightly). She’s no philanthropist, and she’s yet to amass multiple husbands, much less an enviable collection of magnificent baubles like a 16th Century pearl drop diamond or a 33.19 carat diamond.