LOS ANGELES – NBC television has hired actress Laura Regan (search) to play former POW Jessica Lynch (search) 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 (search) 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.
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