Mistaken Felicity Huffman Says Lindsay Lohan is Brilliant

Felicity Huffman is a talented actress. But even talented actresses can be wrong sometimes.

The Desperate Housewives star thinks Lindsay Lohan's performance in Georgia Rule is so strong that the public will forget that the young star got chewed out for acting up during production.

"Once people see the movie," Huffman tells Parade magazine in its upcoming issue, "God willing, the performances will eclipse any [celebrity gossip]."

In the movie, which opens May 11, Huffman and Lohan portray the stormy side of mother-daughter relations. As described by Huffman" "This character was so abrasive to play that I didn't have the wherewithal to step back and think of it as about me being a mother. I just kept thinking of it as my relationship with Lindsay Lohan."

Perhaps, in that case, she sought advice from Stavros Niarchos, Brody Jenner, Harry Morton, Joe Francis and James Blunt. Among thousands of others.

"To me, Lindsay was a complete and utter delight. The minute I met her I just loved her," Huffman continued. "She meets you with an open heart and wide-open eyes and gets right in there. She cares about the work. She throws herself in, 100 percent."

Sort of like her commitment to alcohol.

"I just adored her. She's fantastic in the movie. It doesn't get any better than what she did. Brilliant."

Huffman's praise, however, contrasts with last summer's stern remarks about Lohan in a letter from James G. Robinson, CEO of Morgan Creek Productions. Robinson threatened legal action against Lohan and called her absences from the Georgia Rule set "irresponsible and unprofessional."

(After Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, criticized the studio exec for lashing out at her daughter, Robinson and Lindsay Lohan's differences were put to rest.)

Meanwhile, Huffman's real-life husband, veteran character actor William H. Macy, said last year that he respects Lohan's talent â€" but not her behavior.

"You can't show up late," Macy said. "It's very, very disrespectful." Asked about Lohan's work on Bobby, in which they both costarred, Macy paused and said, "She was pretty late."