Lifetime's Marilyn Monroe Mini-Series Casts Kelli Garner In Lead Role- 'Pan Am' Actress To Star Alongside Susan Sarandon

Lifetime has found their Marilyn Monroe. The network, which is working on a biopic miniseries based on the late actress's life has just cast Kelli Garner in the title role, with Susan Sarandon set to play Monroe's mother in the drama.

According to The Wrap, Garner, who is best known for her role in ABC's now cancelled Pan Am, has signed on the dotted lines to bring Marilyn to the life on the small screen. The miniseries will be based off of J. Randy Taraborrelli's novel, The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, which tells the story of everything the actress was able to keep hidden from the public.

As we previously reported, Susan Sarandon has signed on to play Marilyn's mentally ill mother, Gladys, who the troubled star has a very interesting relationship with.

The Hollywood Reporter is also confirming the casting news, and gives a little description of what fans can expect to see in the four-hour miniseries.

"Marilyn is both the personification of sex, whose first marriage ironically collapses because of her frigidity, and a fragile artist who seeks the approval and protection of men," Lifetime explained in their release statement. "But after tumultuous marriages with Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, she realizes she has the strength to stand on her own. She becomes the face and voice of an era, yet wants most of all to be someone's mother and someone's little girl. She's the Marilyn you haven't seen before, the artist who, by masking the truth with an image, gives her greatest performance."

The series is expected to hit the airwaves sometime next year.