The world lost a national treasure when Dolly Parton passed away on August 25 at the age of 80, but if there’s one silver lining we can take away from her death, it’s been all the wonderful stories that have been retold about her over the past couple of weeks. As celebrities paid tribute to the country music legend, many of them regaled fans with stories about working with Parton or the best advice she ever gave. Danica McKellar crossed paths with her for a Hallmark movie, and it sounds like she had quite the work ethic.
Like most of Dolly Parton’s fans, I know her reputation for hard work — it’s really no surprise when you consider her blue-collar background and the meaning behind her song “9 to 5” — but Danica McKellar got to witness that work ethic first-hand when she co-starred with Parton in Christmas at Dollywood in 2019. McKellar said the country music star was “everything that you hope she could possibly be and much more." She told Fox News:
She told me she only slept three to five hours a night. She was always dreaming stuff up and just busy. She'd sleep on her big travel bus if she was traveling and doing things and wake up early in the morning. ... She did her own hair and makeup, her own wig and her own makeup. And she'd get to work.
Dolly Parton wasted no time on sleep, apparently, because I guess those creative juices never stopped flowing. However, I’d have expected the living legend to have a whole team dedicated to her iconic hair and makeup, so I am a bit shocked that she woke up super early to do it all herself.
As you can imagine, the “Jolene” singer didn’t slow down once she got to set, either, as Danica McKellar continued:
She's incredible. Great work ethic. She wanted to rehearse a lot, and I was like, 'I would love to rehearse with you.' I'd love to just be in her presence. She was incredible. She walked on the set and made everyone feel comfortable because people were so nervous to meet Dolly Parton. And she just walked on this set and said, 'Merry Christmas everybody.' Like to the whole room and everyone just was charmed. Like, that was it.
I’m charmed after just reading that, “Merry Christmas everybody,” in Dolly Parton’s voice in my head. What an honor it must have been to see Parton in action and get to learn from such a passionate worker.
Danica McKellar is far from the only person reflecting on fond memories of what it was like to work with the legend. Queen Latifah recalled after a long day of shooting Joyful Noise, Dolly Parton cooked her chicken and dumplings. Seth MacFarlane said her “kindness, generosity, and authenticity” was immediately evident when she appeared on his show The Orville, and Sandra Bullock marveled at how Parton insisted on sleeping in her tour bus rather than a fancy hotel room when they worked together on Miss Congeniality 2.
Dolly Parton was one of a kind, and stories like the one Danica McKellar told from the set of their movie is part of what will keep her memory alive. I’m hoping Hallmark will add Christmas at Dollywood to its list of upcoming Hallmark flicks. It would be such a treat for fans to be able to see that work ethic in action as part of the 2026 Christmas movie schedule.
