Agnes Bruckner on Portraying Anna Nicole Smith

Five years after her death, Lifetime is working on a biopic on the convoluted life of Anna Nicole Smith. ET recently visited the set of the film and caught up with the actress who is depicting Smith, Agnes Bruckner.

"It's just such a fascinating story to me," Bruckner said of undertaking the role. "There were so many different layers to her and she was so iconic and...larger than life. It was just something that I was like...'This is going to be really scary, but it's going to be really awesome at the same time.'"

PICS: Remembering Anna Nicole Smith in Photos

As her life unfolded in the public eye due to intense media coverage and her own reality show that ran for a year, Bruckner had plenty of material to sift through when researching the role.

"I watched 'ET' stories; I watched YouTube clips," she said. "So much of her life was on camera, so there was so much to watch....[I researched with] a lot of DVDs, a lot of articles, [and] pictures--everything that was there."

While her research will certainly pay off for the film, viewers wouldn't be able to appreciate the biographical film if Bruckner didn't look like Smith. With the help of costume and make-up personnel, she was able to make the transformation from a self-declared brunette tomboy to a blonde beauty.

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Although the abundance of Smith's life caught on film helped Bruckner study up for her role, those videos are also available for the public to watch, which can put more pressure on her to adequately portray the role. As her co-star Adam Goldberg attests, she's carried out the role well so far.

"She's been great. Agnes is an interesting actress, and she's not doing an impression of [Anna Nicole]," Goldberg said. "I think it's a very difficult role to play because there is just so much tape on this woman that's it's very easy to just do an impression...You have to find something in it that is honest for yourself and I think that's what Agnes is doing."

Watch the full video above for the full interviews, including that of Martin Landau, who plays Smith's billionaire husband, J. Howard Marshall.

The Anna Nicole Smith Story will premiere in 2013 on Lifetime.