Downton Abbey star Lily James is being eyed up to play her second blonde bombshell – the infamous Playmate Anna-Nicole Smith.
Lily, 33, is hot favourite to take on the role after her sensational portrayal of Baywatch beauty Pamela Anderson in the hit TV mini-series Pam & Tommy earlier this year.
Anna-Nicole’s rollercoaster life is being turned into a biopic by her two best friends in Hollywood, reality show stars Patrik Simpson and Pol Atteu.
Show producer Patrik, 53, one half of the gay couple in Gown And Out In Beverly Hills, admits he has “reached out” to Downton’s Lady Rose over the new role.
He said Lily is “amazing…everything she does is brilliant”.
Referring to the actress they want, Patrik added: “She needs to be tall, beautiful, animated and jump off the screen” while Pol, 56, said the key is that “they have to embody Anna-Nicole’s spirit.”
Anna-Nicole was never far from the headlines after being 1993 Playmate of the Year in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mag.
The following year she married 89-year-old US billionaire J.Howard-Marshall who died 13 months later.
Her son Daniel, 20, died of a drug overdose while visiting his mum and her new-born daughter in hospital in 2006.
Next year Anna-Nicole herself died aged 39 from an accidental overdose while still battling in court to get half her late husband’s fortune.
Patrik and Pol confirmed they have secured a deal with LA production house Island Illusion Entertainment.
They said the film, based on their book Portrait Of An Icon, will tell “the real truth and have some naughty memories”.
