Dolly Parton, Jennifer Nettles Want ‘Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love’ to Connect Families
Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love made-for-TV movie is set to premiere Wednesday night (Nov. 30) on NBC. The sequel to 2015's Coat of Many Colors film explores more of Parton's humble childhood -- including one of her fondest memories, which inspired the movie's title.
"We, as children, and my dad, all made up money one Christmas to buy Mama a wedding ring," Parton recently shared with The Boot and other reporters. "She had a house full of kids and never had a wedding ring, so that kind of represents the circle, and family love."
Christmas of Many Colors viewers will also see a real-life "Christmas miracle" that the Partons experienced.
"[W]e got snowbound and got snowed in in our little cabin. We were right up in the holler, and we almost died; we almost froze to death," Parton remembers. "My daddy was gone, and we were out of food, and we couldn’t get out, and so it’s about a miracle through prayer that Mama had."
Because of how meaningful the stories in Christmas of Many Colors are to Parton, she hand-picked the actors whom she wanted to star in the film, including Jennifer Nettles, who reprises her role as Parton's mother.
"When [Nettles] sent [her audition] tape in, she had her hair dark, and she looked like Mama. And I didn’t realize it, but it was just meant to be," Parton recalls. "I really do believe that some things in this world are meant to be ... It’s so important that all the people really represent my brothers and my sister, and my mom and my dad. We went through tons and tons of people to find the right ones."
Nettles, meanwhile, found connections between Parton's story and her own.
"I grew up similarly, in a Southern family and a Christian family, and so, especially for my Mama, she is super connected to that story in that way," Nettles explains. "So, for her, there were also tears, just to see that ... There are so many people who can relate to that story, and also in my family. It was special and emotional. I was proud, too, to get to watch it."
While both Parton and Nettles hope that Christmas of Many Colors will be as successful as Coat of Many Colors, more importantly, they want the film to help create memories for families.
"We just want families to feel closer together," Parton notes. "We’ve scattered so much, as a family, because of all the new ways, new technology -- which is wonderful to have all these great things available to us -- but I think we lose a lot, and have lost a lot, about family, so more than anything, I just want people to feel the joy of Christmas and what Christmas is really about, which is Jesus, and about just that love of family."
Adds Nettles, "I think I would love for people to feel connected, and be reminded of their own stories. I think that’s what all art, in its highest function and form, does, is it connects us and reminds us of our own story."
Christmas of Many Colors will premiere on NBC on Nov. 30 at 9PM ET. A DVD version of the movie will be available on Dec. 20.
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