Jennifer Aniston Calls Dolly Parton ‘Magic’ in ‘Dumplin’ Film

Along with being an icon in the country music world, Dolly Parton has also lent her work to plenty of big-screen projects, recording original material for films like 9 to 5 and lending her work to movies including The Bodyguard.

Her latest foray into the world of feature films is with Dumplin’. The upcoming movie is based on the novel of the same name by Julie Murphy.

The film is a musical, and as Parton’s songs play a role in the book, the singer was tapped to write original music for the project.

In a recent interview for InStyle, Jennifer Aniston, who stars in the film, revealed a few details about Parton’s time on set. The actress explained that the film is an homage to Parton, who wrote six songs for the movie and has an album coming out when the film is released.

“She’s magic,” Aniston said of Parton. “I remember the first thing she said to me when she walked into my house. I said, ‘I don’t know how you do everything you’re still doing.’ She said, ‘Well, I dreamed myself into a corner, and now I gotta live up to it.’”

At that, interviewer Molly McNearney noted that “Everything [Parton] says is a bumper sticker.”

Aniston then shared her experience watching the finished film with Parton.

“When Dolly and I watched the movie together, we were in a theater full of people who didn’t know we were sitting in the back,” she recalled. “During one of the funnier parts, she’s stifling her laugh and whispers to me, ‘They can’t hear my laugh. They’ll know my laugh.’ A couple of minutes later I look over and she’s crying, and she says, ‘But they don’t know my tears.’”

In addition to Aniston, the cast of Dumplin’ includes Danielle Macdonald, Dove Cameron, Luke Benward, Odeya Rush, Maddie Baillio and Bex Taylor-Klaus.

The film tells the story of plus-sized teen Willowdean, who enters a local beauty pageant to prove that she’s just as worthy as any other girl. Aniston plays Willowdean’s mom, saying that she enjoyed exploring the pageant world for her role.

“I had so much fun,” she said. “There are women devoting their lives to training young girls for pageants, and it’s the real deal. I loved those women and really enjoyed getting into the mindsets. My character is an ex–pageant queen who is fun but broken. It’s a beautiful mother-daughter story.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Axelle/Bauer-Griffin