Willa Ford will play Anna Nicole

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-12 08:56

Willa Ford pose on the red carpet at a party, Oct. 4, 2006, in West Hollywood, Calif., at Quixote Studios. [AP]

Willa Ford will play Anna Nicole Smith in an independent movie that begins shooting next week, Daily Variety reported Wednesday.

Ford, 26, is best known for her hit single "I Wanna Be Bad," from her 2001 album, "Willa Was Here." Like Smith, she was a Playboy model.

Smith, 39, died in February from a mix of prescription drugs, leaving behind a baby daughter and a possible fortune from her marriage to the late J. Howard Marshall II, the Texas oil tycoon. A court in the Bahamas announced Tuesday that DNA tests proved former boyfriend Larry Birkhead was the baby's father.

The previously announced independent movie "Anna Nicole" will cover her life from age 17 to her death.

A call by The Associated Press to a representative for Ford wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

Ford, whose real name is Amanda Lee Williford, appeared as a "celebrity dancer" last year on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and has hosted several reality television shows.