Steel Magnolias’ Secrets That Probably Won’t Make You Cry

13. Because Stark insisted they film on location, the cast trucked down to Louisiana. “It helped that Natchitoches is gorgeous,” said Harling. “Anywhere you point the camera you’re going to frame a good shot.”

But bringing in the necessary equipment, plus finding rental accommodations for the big-named stars, turned the production into an extravaganza. As Harling put it, “The circus had come to town.” 

14. Every night Parton and her squad (an assistant, bodyguard and hair stylist) dined at the same spot, “a restaurant called Mariner’s out on Sibley Lake,” resident Tom Whitehead recalled to Garden and Gun. As a result, the seafood spot remained sold out for the whole of the shoot as “people filled it up to see Dolly Parton eating in the back corner.”

15. Louisiana in the summertime presented some challenges. But while MacLaine admitted most of the cast were “always complaining” about the heat, there was never a peep from Parton.

“There was Dolly with a waist cincher no more than 16 inches around and heels about two feet high and a wig that must have weighed 23 pounds,” said the star. “And she’s the only one who didn’t sweat.” 

Even when a Christmas scene required her to swelter in a cashmere sweater. “Julia said, ‘Dolly, we’re dying and you never say a word. Why don’t you let loose?'” Harling recounted. “Dolly very serenely smiled and said, ‘When I was young and had nothing, I wanted to be rich and famous and now I am. So I’m not going to complain about anything.”