Jennifer Grey is the latest actress to step into Gwen Shamblin Lara's shoes.
The Dirty Dancing star will play Shamblin Lara in the upcoming Lifetime Original Movie Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation. The news comes after Sarah Paulson was announced to be leading HBO's adaptation of its own docusieres, The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin.
Gwen Shamblin Lara rose to notoriety as a weight loss guru and eventually became a cult-like leader within her church. According to both ex-congregants of her Tennessee church Remnant Fellowship and ex-members of her Weigh Down Workshop, Shamblin Lara's dangerous, controlling behavior mirrored that of a cult leader. Shamblin Lara was accused of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse by her former followers.
Shamblin Lara died in a plane crash in 2021.
Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation will premiere on Lifetime February 4, 2023.
Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.
TOPICS: Gwen Shamblin Lara, Lifetime, Jennifer Grey