The 'Intense Situation' of Filming 'Liz & Dick'

The premiere of Liz & Dick starring Lindsay Lohan and Grant Bowler is just 10 days away, and Kiwi actor Bowler tells ET that the short shooting schedule of the Lifetime movie about the combustible relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton helped to create "a very intense situation" to capture "these extremes of human feeling."

Pics: Lindsay Lohan's 'Liz & Dick' Birthday Party

"There wasn't a scene between Lindsay and I that was casual, that was, 'Honey, pass the salt,'" says Bowler. "Everything was enormous. Everything was key. These were the great moments into great people's lives. You're living a kind of electric reality if you like – there's tension in the wire all the time -- and I think that really fed into the chemistry between us."

Premiering Sunday November 25 at 9/8c on Lifetime, Liz & Dick chronicles the highly publicized, roller-coaster romance between the Hollywood legends during the filming of the big-budget Cleopatra and other major projects.

"They were the first paparazzi couple; the expression paparazzi was built around this couple," says Grant of the title characters, who flaunted their affair while each was married to someone else. "They refused to hide, and it snowballed, something the likes of which I still don't think we've seen again. I mean, the Pope condemned their relationship."

New Pic: Lindsay Lohan as Liz Taylor

Of course, the modern-day tabloids had a field day with Lindsay during production of Liz & Dick, claiming that the star would have tantrums on the set, be late, or wouldn't even show up… But how much of it was true? Did Lindsay's offscreen lifestyle mirror the chaos between Burton and Taylor depicted onscreen? Watch the video to find out…