Dolly Parton Plotting Musical Movie About Her Life and Career

Few people have accomplished as much as country legend Dolly Parton, and she has an exciting new project on the horizon. In a new interview for Mr. Nashville Talks, Parton updated fans on her plans for a musical about her life, although she has decided to switch from a Broadway show to a movie, at least for now. 

“We were talking about doing my Broadway musical, and we were really, really far out ahead of that, and then the COVID hit and that changed my mind about a whole lot of things,” Parton explained. “I do intend someday to be on Broadway, but I’m thinking now that I might do my life story as a feature. Maybe possibly even a musical feature. So we’re in talks about that.”

When asked about who she thought she play her, she admitted that the project had been in development for so long that many of the actresses she had originally wanted had aged out of the role, but she joked that she might just play herself in her later years. However, she does think that Jim Carrey would be a great Porter Wagoner.

Parton had previously mentioned Tony-winner Kristin Chenoweth as a great option to play her. “I love Kristin Chenoweth. She’s just absolutely fantastic,” Parton told Marie Claire in 2020.  

“Years and years ago, when I was going to do the Broadway musical—I never can get it to how I want it, but I’m still working on it. But I thought she’d be an ideal person to do that,” she said. “But we’re all getting older now, so if we tell the parts…we may be able to have different 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. And she’d still be great for that.”