Contributed by Gillion Machota
When the news broke that Julie Murphy’s Dumplin‘ was being adapted into a movie, fans of the young adult novel were incredibly excited. Now with the movie tie-in book cover released and a new still of Jennifer Aniston putting on her crown, the Netflix Original is getting closer, so let’s take a look at what we know so far!
Playing our leading lady, Willowdean, is Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$) and mother, Rosie, is being played by the talented Jennifer Aniston (Iron Giant, Marley and Me, We’re the Millers). Bo will be played by Luke Benward (Dear John and Life of the Party). The gang of girls are Ellen (Odeya Rush, Lady Bird), Bekah (Dove Cameron, Descendants 1 and 2 and Hairspray Live!), Hannah (Bex Taylor-Klaus, Hell Fest), and Millie (Maddie Brown, Hairspray Live!).
Anna Fletcher is set to direct. She has directed many rom-coms including The Proposal, 27 Dresses, and Hot Pursuit.
“The reason I responded to this is because, when I was growing up, I had none of these movies telling me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you look like, you’re still perfect the way you are,’” Fletcher says. “There’s just so many layers to it that I love, and if this can affect girls and women in a positive way, that will make me so happy.”
The writer is Kristin Hahn who is also writing the script for Stargirl (a middle grade novel written by Jerry Speneili).
Author Julie Murphy has also written a sequel for the novel, Puddin’, which follows the perspective of Millie. She has also written Ramona Blue and Side Effects May Vary. Dumplin’ was published on September 15th 2015 and it has remained to be one of Murphy’s most popular novel. Murphy has been excited from the very beginning. The movie is also supposed to be a Drama/Musical even though Murphy has confirmed that it is not, but music is a big part of the movie and the novel.
Dolly Parton, who Willowdean adores in the novel, and so the soundtrack features several reworked versions of Dolly Parton classics, along with new material co-written by Parton and Linda Perry.
“The movie touched me deeply, and I hope people will be touched by it as well,” says Parton, who collaborates with Sia, Mavis Staples, Miranda Lambert and others on the soundtrack. She adds, “I really hope that people go away from this movie feeling better about themselves. I know I did.”
The film is set to be released on December 7th internationally on Netflix. With the release date drawing near, we certainly can expect a trailer very soon! – Update: The trailer has been released today! [15/11/18] Check it out below!
Official Synopsis:
In small-town Texas, teenage Willowdean Dickson (Danielle Macdonald) grew up loving two things: her free-spirited Aunt Lucy (Hilliary Begley) and country superstar Dolly Parton. After her aunt dies, Will struggles to feel comfortable in her own skin — a problem made all the more difficult by her mother, Rosie (Jennifer Aniston), an ex-beauty queen who now runs the local pageant and shares little in common with her daughter.
Hoping to shake things up and rattle her mother, Will enters the Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant. To her surprise, however, other girls follow suit and work together to show everyone that beauty comes from within.
Will’s journey of self-discovery leads her well out of her comfort zone, into everything from high heels to a drag bar full of Dolly Parton impersonators. While her aunt may be gone, she finds a new mentor in Lucy’s friend Lee (Harold Perrineau), a drag queen who helps prepare her for the stage. (Also on hand is Lee’s wisecracking cohort, Candee Disch, played by Ginger Minj.)
Meanwhile, Rosie has her own struggles: She’s still mourning the loss of her sister, and her tense relationship with her daughter seems beyond repair. Ultimately, Rosie needs to free herself from worrying what others think and accept her daughter for who she is.
With a support system that includes her girlfriends, drag friends and Dolly Parton as her spirit guide, Willowdean learns that maybe she’s not so alone after all, and, to quote one of her favorite Dolly-isms, “If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.”
