From starlet to mob princess?
Lindsay Lohan is currently in talks to play Victoria Gotti in a movie about Gambino family boss John Gotti starring John Travolta as the late Don. And the Pulp Fiction star, 57, tells UsMagazine.com that he'd be thrilled to have the troubled actress, 24, play his daughter.
"I know whatever she would like to do would be great," Travolta said at a press conference for the flick in NYC Tuesday. Then he joked, "I know first hand, Lindsay happens to be a very big fan of mine from years ago when she was a little girl and liked [Grease's] Danny Zuko and [Welcome Back Kotter's] Vinny Barborino, so I always thought she was gorgeous and talented and filled with a lot of depth!"
While blonde-again Lohan did pose next to Victoria (highlighting their similar features), she kept mum about playing the author and star of Growing Up Gotti, now 48. But her mother Dina Lohan said she would definitely "support" her little girl taking on the role.
"I'm really dear friends with Victoria," said Dina, 48. "She brought Mark Fiore, the producer, to me and said she wanted Lindsay to play her and that she respects Lindsay as an actor. I love Victoria, so it's win win!"
Likewise, John Gotti, who died in 2002 at the age of 61, would have apparently been pleased with the casting of Travolta. Asked if his father had been a fan of the Saturday Night Fever star, Gotti's son, John Gotti Jr. replied, "Absolutely, in the '70s and '80s, who wasn't a John Travolta fan?"
To research the role, Travolta has been spending time with Gotti Jr. and the two have found much in common.
"His father lost a son, and I lost a son and we discussed that in depth and how painful that is and how painful it was for his father," said the actor, who's 16-year-old son Jett died in 2009. "It was an amazing kind of evening. It was quintessential for this, and even if I hadn't done the movie, I'd love him anyways."
