Finally, Dolly Parton Wants To Give The People What They Want (A Musical Biopic About Her Life), And She Knows Who Should Play Her

A decade-and-a-half ago, John C. Reilly helped kill the musical biopic dead. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story mercilessly mocked movies like Walk the Line and Ray, skewering their tropes so devastatingly that no one dared make them for years and years. But they were bound to one day rise from the dead. And so they have. The last few years have seen movies like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, about Queen and Elton John, make a ton of money, all while reviving the clichés that once made the genre ripe for satire. So why hasn’t anyone done one yet about Dolly Parton That’s what Dolly Parton wants to know.

According to CNN, the country music goddess, too occasional movie star, and theme park owner last month appeared on the radio show Mr. Nashville Speaks, where she discussed her first novel, Run, Rose, Run. She also revealed that she’s in talks to do a big screen Dolly movie.

“I do intend someday to be on Broadway, but I’m thinking now that I might do my life story as a feature,” Parton told host Larry Ferguson. “Maybe possibly even a musical feature, so we’re in talks about that.”

Parton said that a Broadway Dolly musical almost happened, but the pandemic delayed that so long that she changed her mind. Now she’s pursuing a Dolly movie.

But who on earth could ever hope to summon even a scintilla of the charisma of one of the great entertainers Parton had some ideas.

“I love Kristin Chenoweth,” Parton said. “She’s just absolutely fantastic.” But perhaps Chenoweth, if she’s comfortable inhabiting the shoes of the woman who wrote both “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same frickin’ day, would only be one of multiple Dollys. “We’d probably have to have-as long as my career has been-like a little Dolly and a middle Dolly and then the older one.”

So there you have it, Hollywood. Go forth and make a Dolly Parton movie. In the meantime, go watch the too few movies she’s made over the years. Yes, even the one with Stallone.

You can watch Parton’s Mr. Nashville Speaks interview in the video below.