The Sweet (And On-Brand) Gesture Dolly Parton Made For Queen Latifah After A Long Day Of Shooting
After Dolly Parton passed away on August 25, tributes came pouring in from celebrities, and many shared their favorite memories and advice from the legendary singer. Now, Queen Latifah has spoken about the sweet on-brand gesture that the Queen of Country Music made after a long day of shooting their movie together.
Back in 2012, Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah starred in the musical dramedy Joyful Noise, which is about two clashing women coming together to save their small-town choir from shutting down. After a long day of shooting, Parton did something for Queen Latifah that was great for the heart and stomach, as the Chicago actress explained on The Drew Barrymore Show:
I mean, we did a movie called Joyful Noise together. And we had so much fun. She wrote all these songs and she made me chicken and dumplings. After a day of work, who the heck has time to make chicken and dumplings for me? There’s nothing [she can’t do].
Ooh, now that story is making me hungry. It proves how dedicated Parton was to her movies, music, and her food, and it’s so incredibly wholesome.
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Now, speaking of the movie they worked on together, Joyful Noise had so many catchy tunes, and three of them were written by Parton. According to NPR, she initially wrote 12 songs for the movie, as she humorously said it only took her an hour to write each song. And if she can do all of that and make chicken and dumplings for her co-star, it proves the “I Will Always Love You” singer was a true gem.
Queen Latifah didn’t want her friendship with Dolly Parton to stop after shooting Joyful Noise. She once tried to get the 9 to 5 actress to guest-star on her CBS series The Equalizer. Overall, they did remain close after filming that movie together, as the Living Single actress told Drew Barrymore about a sweet way the “Jolene” singer would stay in touch with her:
She sends me a letter. You’d be lucky to get one of these pink letters in the mail. …. It’s pink, and it says, ‘Dolly.’ And I’m like, ‘Dolly, what did you send me?’ But she’s just the salt of the earth.
Oh, that would have done my heart well to get a pink “Dolly” letter. That color and sparkles are synonymous with the singer, so knowing her stationery was pink too makes my heart so happy.
To that point, Sandra Bullock even recalled the Tennessee native pulling up in her pink tour bus when they briefly worked on Miss Congeniality 2 together. Together, these memories capture Parton’s colorful, warm, and larger-than-life persona that she never shied away from.
Sweet gestures like making chicken and dumplings and sending pink letters must have meant the world to Queen Latifah and will surely always stay with her. It’s a powerful reminder that small actions can make a world of difference.
Now, if you’d like to see the movie these two worked on, Joyful Noise is available to stream on Tubi and The Roku Channel.
