Yahoo Movies Dolly Parton on why she's 'always dragging stuff outta my bra' on Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas
Dolly Parton is afraid to reveal if she's done anything that would land her on Santa's Naughty List.
"Do I really have to say? I don't know if I'd done anything that naughty," the music legend says via Zoom, joining EW from her studios outside Nashville to chat about her NBC holiday movie, Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas.
The truth, of course, is that the "Jolene" and "9 to 5" singer has done a whole lot of good not just this year but throughout her life, and she's hoping her new special within a movie will inspire some of that for audiences. Set behind the scenes of a fictional network special, it includes a network executive (Ana Gasteyer), producing team (Tom Everett Scott, Angel Parker), and enough special guests to guide Santa's sleigh: Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmie Allen, Zach Williams, and her sisters, Cassie and Rachel.
"I was surrounded with family," she says, referring to her sisters and other relatives who join for one song. "And even a lot of these musical guests, they feel like family to me."
Below, Parton delivers lots of laughs as she previews the movie and her new Christmas collaboration with Jimmy Fallon (and the lyric that pays homage to Mariah Carey), why her duet with Nelson is one of her personal "highlights of the whole show," teases her co-hosting duties of Miley Cyrus' Miley's New Year's Eve Party on NBC, and more. And check out a behind-the-scenes look at the movie above.
Katherine Bomboy/NBC Dolly Parton in 'Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, let's get this out of the way, because I laughed when you do it in the movie but maybe I shouldn't be surprised: do you really keep your phone tucked away in your bra?
DOLLY PARTON: [Laughs] I swear to you I do for the most part 'cause I don't have pockets and my clothes are so tight, I don't have anywhere to put it. So I've always got my bra and I'm always just putting it there. And so it became a joke. I even did a commercial about it a couple years ago, one of those phone commercials. And so when we were thinking about this, somebody got the idea, "Why don't you just repeat what you already do?" And so we had to take the pencil and the diary and the things out of my chest. And I make a joke on the show, "I know you folks thought I was chesty. I'm just carrying a lot of stuff in here!" So that was a fun little gag that we pulled throughout the show where I was always dragging stuff outta my bra. [Laughs]
You welcome a lot of great guests for this. Jimmy Fallon's one of them, and you two have the song "Almost Too Early for Christmas." One of the lyrics that stood out to me was "Let's turn on the lights for Mariah." That seems like a bit of a nod, bow down moment, to Mariah Carey?
Yeah! Well, I think Jimmy's a big fan of hers too, as am I, and we recorded her song, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on my Christmas album, The Holly Dolly Christmas — Jimmy joined me on that couple of years ago. And so we didn't sing it on the show 'cause Jimmy and I did "Almost Too Early for Christmas." He had a Christmas album, I think, and then that was one of the songs he asked me to sing on it. So we thought, "Well, we'll do that one." But I didn't write that song — Jimmy and some other fellas wrote that, I think. So I love the idea of "Turn on the lights for Mariah," 'cause they're calling us both Queen of Christmas, but she's the queen. I'm proud of her and I think she's got a special coming on too, and I'll be watching that. She's great! What could be better than that great song?
Katherine Bomboy/NBC Dolly Parton and Jimmy Fallon in 'Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas'
Willie Nelson, another great guest. So here's my question for you: In addition to being a fantastic musician, he is known for some other things. So has Willie ever offered you a special gift? Maybe some home-baked goods?
[Laughs] Oh, sure! In fact, it's a joke between us. I don't think Willie could smoke much anymore 'cause he has to watch his voice now, but I'm not so sure he ain't still eating it. I don't know. But there was one time I was singing a song with him on another album and his phrasing is so crazy and I thought, well, we sounded so much alike that it would be easy to sing with Willie, until the first time I tried it. And I mean, his phrasing, I worked so hard try to catch him on on the phrasing of that. So I called him up and I said, "You got a sack of something that might help me phrase this a little better with you?" [Laughs] He said, "I'm pretty sure I can muster up something." But anyway, it's more like a joke between us. I love Willie. We've been friends since our early days in Nashville and having him on the show, singing one of the great songs of all time — he wrote "The Pretty Paper" — and having Willie there with me was one of the highlights of the whole show for me.
You talked about the phone being a running gag … there's also a moment where you're wearing a huge dress and I thought, "That's the most I've ever seen Dolly wearing." But then you call out how ridiculous it is and that you don't like it.
[Laughs] Oh, I know! The whole theme of the show is, I'm wanting to go back home and do like a simple Smokey Mountain Christmas like I remember as a child. Well, of course, when Hollywood gets ahold of anything, it's gonna get bigger and bigger. They put me in that big ol' dress and that was all for the fun of it — I won't say what I said 'cause it'll kill it for the show, but it's a thing. But yeah, you don't know at the start and then they overdone it and I'm like, "I ain't doing this." [Laughs]
It's fun. There's some good comedy in the show. I think it's entertaining. I think we got the fun. I think we got the inspiration. I think we got the meaning. We got the children. We have Miley [Cyrus], Jimmie Allen, Jimmy Fallon, Billy Ray [Cyrus], Zach Williams — all these great singers. And then we had Tom Everett Scott, Ana Gasteyer, Angel Parker, and Rhoda Griffis, who plays my best friend, Judy Ogle, has been my best friend forever; she's not an actor, but I wanted her to be in the show. So it was fun.
And you got your family in there, your sisters and so many more. I have to assume family gatherings are just like a big music festival.
Well, they are because all of my people are very musical. They all write, they all sing. And so when we get together, that's really what it is. I have five sisters, but I could only, as we say in the show, muster up two of them 'cause a couple are having a little bit of health issues at the moment and couldn't do it. So I got Cassie and Rachel and we were singing our pig Latin song 'cause back when we were young, I used to make 'em work up all these background parts for songs that I wrote. So that was just a fun thing. And then having all my nieces there, my sisters, and my little grandnephew, Liam, playing the little elf. So I was surrounded with family. And even a lot of these musical guests, they feel like family to me. Like Billy Ray and Miley — they've grown up with me. Having all those wonderful people around and doing it from Dollywood, in our park with a lot of our musicians, dancers, and singers, it was just real special for many reasons to me.
Katherine Bomboy/NBC Dolly Parton with her sisters Cassie Parton and Rachel Parton in 'Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas'
There is one moment where you do say you're no angel, and you're no saint. So what did you do in 2022 that might put you on Santa's Naughty List?
[Laughs] Lord, I don't know! I'm sure there's many things. I try to overcome them … I'm sure there's a few things in there. Do I really have to say? I don't know if I'd done anything that naughty. Well, I wouldn't tell you if I had done something really naughty. [Laughs] I'd blow my whole image. Like I said, I'm no angel, I just play one on TV. And there was something else I said in the special, that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. We're all just human beings. We'll let Santa judge my naughtiness. [Laughs]
You are joining Miley for the Miley's New Year's Eve Party on NBC. I would just love to see, when the ball drops, you riding in on a wrecking ball. Can we make that happen?
[Laughs] I think we are gonna do a medley, of "Wrecking Ball" and "I Will Always Love You." We gotta combine some of our things musically, but that would be great if we both could ride in on a wrecking ball. Who knows? She may have that plan. I'll go with her. I'm gonna be there for her and with her. And we're both just wild enough to do it.
Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas airs Thursday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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