A musical biopic about Dolly Parton may soon come out.
During a February 23rd interview on Mr. Nashville Talks, Parton revealed that she’s in talks about adapting her life story into a musical biopic after a planned Broadway musical about her life was ruined by the pandemic.
“We were talking about doing my Broadway musical and we were really, really far out ahead of that, and then Covid hit and that changed my mind about a whole lot of things,” Parton said. “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.”
Who does Dolly Parton want to play her in the movie?
Parton previously said that the project would possibly need multiple women to portray her throughout her six-decade career as an entertainer.
“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,” the 76-year-old music legend and philanthropist told Southern Living magazine in 2021.
One of Parton’s early picks to play her is Kristin Chenoweth. “I love Kristin Chenoweth,” Parton said of the 53-year-old Broadway star in a Marie Claire interview in 2020. “She’s just absolutely fantastic.”
Fortunately for Parton and for fans of that dream casting, Chenoweth has been very vocal about her desire to portray the country music icon in a musical. The Wicked star even gave a pseudo-addition for the role during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021.
“Dolly, hurry up! I’m ready!” Chenoweth said to the camera, after sharing that Parton has discussed her hopes for the Glee star to portray her in a biographical project, even though there were no solid plans yet at that time.
Chenoweth added, “I just grew up listening to her, and, you know, I do a pretty good … ” before making an amazing imitation of Parton’s classic hit Here You Come Again. Her pseudo-audition didn’t stop there, as she later switched things up by charmingly singing a few lines of Jolene.
Movies about Dolly Parton
Though Parton’s musical biopic has yet to be officially greenlit, a couple of movies based on her life have already been released in recent years. In 2015, the TV movie Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors was aired on NBC. The Stephen Herek-directed movie details Parton’s upbringing in 1955 as her family struggles to live in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains.
Then most recently, in 2019, the biographical documentary film Dolly Parton: Here I Am was released. Currently streaming on Netflix, the Francis Whately-directed docu-movie offers a look into the life and musical career of Parton, which is told through interviews with friends, companions, and the artist herself.