LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lindsay Lohan has landed the lead role in an independent movie about 1970s porn star Linda Lovelace, one of the film's producers said.

The 24-year-old actress will play Lovelace, who shot to fame with the landmark 1972 porno movie ''Deep Throat,'' while Bill Pullman will portray Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner in the period drama, producer Wali Razaqi told The Los Angeles Times.

The film, called ''Inferno,'' will be based on the events of Lovelace's life and will delve into the ''difficult stuff she went through and overcame,'' Razaqi said.

Razaqi said he and director Matthew Wilder are confidant the ''Mean Girls'' star will deliver.

''I would say it's probably one of the most challenging roles any actor could play -- and not because of the sexual content, necessarily -- but more because she was so battered and beat up emotionally, that I think it's gonna take everything Lindsay has to really be able to pull it off,'' he told the Times.

''Not that Lindsay's life is similar in any way -- but she's been through a lot of ups and downs. A lot of times you're loved and then you're hated, and I think she can relate to those emotions and feelings.''

Razaqi added that an official announcement about the film's casting will be made at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

Lohan's agent Nick Styne and manager, Justin Grey Stone, could not immediately be reached for comment early Wednesday.

Lovelace, whose real name was Linda Susan Boreman, starred in several adult films before gaining stardom with the runaway hit ''Deep Throat,'' one of the first porn movies to reach into mainstream culture.

She later denounced her pornography career and became a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement.

In her autobiography ''Ordeal,'' Boreman revealed that she gave birth to a son out of wedlock when she was 20, and that her mother put him up for adoption.

Boreman died in 2002 following a car crash in Denver.

Pullman made his film debut in a supporting role in 1986's ''Ruthless People'' and later appeared in such films as ''Spaceballs,'' ''Independence Day'' and ''Scary Movie 4.''

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

hopefully she'll have gained some weight by the time they start shooting the movie