According to Variety, the biopic, titled The Brittany Murphy Story, will follow the story of Murphy as a child star in the ’80s and her mother Sharon Murphy who will be played by Twin Peaks actress, Sherilyn Fenn.
Amanda Fuller, of ABC series Last Man Standing and Grey’s Anatomy, will play the lead role.
Brittany Murphy in her breakout role in 1995’s Clueless.
After transitioning from a child star and landing her breakout role in Clueless, Murphy put in solid performances in films such as Girl Interrupted, 8 Mile and 2001’s Don’t Say a Word, opposite Michael Douglas.
Murphy also provided the voice to the character of Gloria in Happy Feet and Luanne in the long-running animated comedy, King of the Hill.
But the actress seemed to struggle with the pressures of celebrity – and while the issues with her weight and rumours of extreme plastic surgery circled – her mother was a grounding force in the starlet’s life.
Her death, on December 20, 2009, came as a shock and was attributed to pneumonia and anemia. In a strange twist, her husband, Simon Monjack, died a few months later under similar circumstances.
Brittany’s late husband Simon Monjack and her mother Sharon Murphy following Murphy’s death in 2009.
Sharon Murphy blamed their deaths on toxic mould in the home, but Murphy’s father, Angelo Bertolotti, later alleged the couple may have died of heavy metal poisoning.
Brittany Murphy was born in Atlanta, but following her parents’ divorce she moved to LA with her mother to pursue her acting dreams.
The TV movie is due to air in the US on September 6 on Lifetime.
