“As proud of it as of anything I have ever done”: the movie Dolly Parton loved making the most
The list of singers and musicians to have tried their hand at acting is an extensive one, but Dolly Parton decided that the logical extension of her on-camera career was to build a one-woman empire of film and television projects entirely around herself.
Not that anyone would have begrudged her for doing it when the country music legend is one of the most beloved personalities pop culture has ever been blessed with. However, it stands to reason she could have enjoyed a much more prolific filmography than what she ended up with.
Making her feature debut in 9 to 5 was as shrewd as it was savvy, the workplace comedy racked up over $100million at the global box office and brought her mainstream career to new heights. She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Best Actress – Musical or Comedy’ for her second film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Starring opposite Sylvester Stallone in the derided Rhinestone was admittedly a misstep, but hit dramedy Steel Magnolias was a swift and effective course correction. By the end of the 1980s, it appeared as though Hollywood was Parton’s oyster, but these days, she’s a lot more likely to be found steering her own projects when she’s not popping up for cameos in everything from Netflix’s Grace & Frankie to Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville.
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas offer an indication of where her priorities have most recently been. However, she does view her one and only starring role of the 1990s as a particularly joyous experience.
The romantic comedy Straight Talk stars Parton as a dance instructor who leaves the rural backdrop of Arkansas in favour of Chicago’s big city lights, where he ends up hosting a radio show offering advice for those who find themselves unlucky in love. James Woods’ journalist suspects that she’s not really qualified for the job, and in a shocking development nobody could have seen coming, the two fall hard for each other.
In her autobiography Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, Parton called the making of Straight Talk “an absolute joy” before declaring that she was “as proud of it as anything I have ever done”. Befitting her nature, she didn’t have any issues with Woods, either, even if “people had warned me he could be difficult to work with”.
She didn’t play a leading role in any other movies throughout the rest of the decade, but at least Straight Talk managed to worm its way right into Parton’s heart as one of the greatest experiences of her career in either music or cinema.
