13. Stark insisted on filming on location, so the cast was trucked to Louisiana. “It helped because Natchitoches is gorgeous,” Harling said. “No matter where you point your camera, you’ll get a good shot.”
But by bringing in the necessary equipment and finding rental accommodation for the biggest stars, the production turned into a lavish affair. As Harling said, “The circus has come to town.”
14. Parton and her team (assistants, bodyguards, hairstylists) ate at the same place every night, “a restaurant called Mariner’s on Sibley Lake,” resident Tom Whitehead recalled to Garden and Gun. As a result, the seafood spot remained sold out throughout filming, with “people filling up to watch Dolly Parton eat in the back corner.”
15. Summer in Louisiana presented some challenges. However, while MacLaine admitted that most of the cast was “always complaining” about the heat, Parton never got a peep.
“There was Dolly in a waist cincher less than 16 inches around and heels about 2 feet tall, and the wig must have weighed 23 pounds,” Starr said. “And she was the only one who didn’t sweat.”
Even when she sweltered in a cashmere sweater during a Christmas scene. “Julia said, ‘Dolly, we’re dying and you’re not saying anything. Why aren’t we being released?'” Harling said. “Dolly said with a very gentle smile, “When I was young and had nothing, I wanted to be rich and famous, and now I am, so I have nothing to complain about.”
