Kelli Garner to Play Marilyn Monroe in Lifetime Miniseries

I've been a big fan of Kelli Garner since she starred in Larry Clark's true-crime drama, Bully, and have been waiting for her big moment to shine. Sadly, it hasn't really come yet despite a small role in The Aviator opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and a key role in Horns alongside Daniel Radcliffe. She even had her own TV series for a time in Pan Am, and although that didn't turn out so well she's about to get another shot. Garner has now lined up two projects, including one that will have her playing Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe.

Garner will star as Monroe in the Lifetime miniseries, Marilyn, which is based on the best-selling book The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe. She'll be joined by Susan Sarandon, and the story follows Marilyn "who walks red carpets in shimmering gowns while fighting a battle against demons she’s inherited from her mentally ill mother Gladys (Sarandon), whom she loves, hates and wants desperately to save. Marilyn becomes the Face and Voice of an era, yet wants most of all to be someone’s mother and someone’s little girl."  Laurie Collyer will direct from a script by The Kennedys writer, Stephen Kronish. Given Lifetime's track record this could turn out to be a disaster, but it's a role that will put a lot of attention on Garner and if she does well it should lead to bigger and better offers. [Deadline]

She's also signed on to star in the dramedy When I Live my Life Over Again, which stars Christopher Walken, Amber Heard, Oliver Platt, Hamish Linklater, and Ann Magnuson. Written and directed by Robert Edwards, the story centers on "Jude, the daughter of a famous crooner Paul Lombard who becomes her worst nightmare as he plots his big comeback." Garner and Heard in the same movie? Be still my heart.

So yes, I'll be watching both of these. [ScreenDaily]