Report: NBC Finds Actress to Play Lynch (The Movie)

The Miami Herald ^ | Thursday, Aug 07, 2003

[demlosers]

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - NBC television has hired actress Laura Regan to play former POW Jessica Lynch for its upcoming TV movie on her rescue in Iraq, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Regan starred in last year's horror movie "They."

"Saving Jessica Lynch" will focus less on Lynch's story and more on the Iraqi lawyer who told American soldiers where they could find Lynch, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker has said.

The movie's expected to be ready to air during the November "sweeps" or ratings period.

The film is being made without Lynch's participation. NBC has a deal with the lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, who mapped out Lynch's location for U.S. Marines.

The film also is relying on information in the public domain.

A 20-year-old Army supply clerk from West Virginia, Lynch was captured March 23 after her 507th Maintenance Company convoy was ambushed in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. She was rescued from a hospital in the city on April 1 after al-Rehaief alerted U.S. forces.

Lynch recently ended a long hospitalization in Washington, D.C., has yet to talk publicly about her experience. News reports have tried to fill in the blanks but questions remain, including about how the rescue was conducted.

The NBC movie is being revised to reflect the latest information, Zucker told the Television Critics Association.

[LibWhacker]

I wonder how much Jessica Lynch is getting? Hope she has a good agent . . . Unlike those guys who were trapped in a mine a couple of years ago: Each of them walked away with a paltry $40 grand or so. After taxes barely enough to go out and buy a decent car or truck.

[ZGuy]

I misread your title and thought they were making a movie about LURCH!

[Carry_Okie]

Lurch: the most perceptive political commentator in TV history!

My HERO!!!

[sticker]

John Kerry?

[bedolido]

Pictures of the new star are just coming in... wait here's the latest

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[68skylark]

I hope PFC Lynch can earn some money from her ordeal. The actress playing her will probably earn a hundred times what Lynch earned from the Army for putting her life at risk.

[BubbaBasher]

[BossLady]

"The film is being made without Lynch's participation"

Unfortunately, it looks as if Lynch is not getting squat.

[veronica]

NBC has a deal with the lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, who mapped out Lynch's location for U.S. Marines....

But what he really wants to do is direct.

Welcome to America...

[LibWhacker]

Wow, doesn't a person have the rights to his or her own story anymore?

[KellyAdmirer]

Funny how the actress list to play Lynch has changed over time. At first they suggested Sarah Michelle ("Buffy") to play her, when the press thought Lynch was a Rambo warrior. Then they floated Reese Witherspoon. Now that Lynch is portrayed as a passive watcher and this thing is going low budget without any of those pricey girls, they get this fragile looking girl. Ah, Hollywood.

[BossLady]

Sad, isn't it??!!! Looks as if the Iraqi attorney who gave up her position to the military is the winner here. I hope they stick to his particular point of view and not do an Oliver Stone and postulate us into total boredom.

[countrydummy]

The film is being made without Lynch's participation.

What part of that statement do you not understand? Leave Jessica alone!

[DAPFE8900]

Well when it is a public figure which she became right when the news was on the story you can do anything you want... Look at all the ww2 movies that used actual generals and peoples names!

[bk1000]

This actress is Canadian. What an insult!

[SB00]

Yeah, she's from Nova Scotia. I don't think it matters all that much.. but I would have thought they would have chosen Reese Witherspoon or someone more mainstream.

[LibWhacker]

Well, participation is one thing. Getting a cut is another thing entirely.