EXCLUSIVE: Murder, Mayhem and Music — Radar Reveals the Sassy Secrets Behind Dolly Parton's Cult '9 to 5' Movie Classic as It Marks 45th Birthday
'9 to 5' starred Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin.
May 15 2025, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
Cult comedy 9 to 5 created plenty of laughs, but the film also took on serious topics like sexual harassment and gender equality in the workplace.
In the flick, powerhouses Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton played three women who fulfill their dreams of getting even with their "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss played with smarmy glee by Dabney Coleman – and take over the day-to-day tasks of running their company – and RadarOnline.com has the inside track on the secrets behind the 1980 classic, which was Parton silver screen debut.
Jane Fonda drew inspiration from activist Karen Nussbaum to launch '9 to 5.'
The project was the brain child of Fonda, who was inspired by Karen Nussbaum, an old friend from the anti-war movement and founder of 9to5, an organization that advocates for working women and still operates today.
Fonda went against type, casting herself as nervous divorcée Judy Bernly and Patricia Resnick, who wrote the original screenplay, said the film was written with Parton and Tomlin in mind even though they weren't yet cast.
Resnick said the production company's alternate choices were Carol Burnett for Tomlin's Violet Newstead and Ann-Margret for Parton's Doralee Rhodes.
But she added: "I had Dolly, Lily and Jane in my head the whole time, and we were really hoping that's who it was going to be."
Though Lily was first on the list to play Violet, she nearly bailed on the role.
"I was shooting The Incredible Shrinking Woman, and I was so overworked," Tomlin recalled.
"I'd worked for seven months on that movie, so I was ready to just shut my eyes to anything else.”
Tomlin almost turned down the film until Jane Wagner convinced her otherwise.
But Tomlin revealed Jane Wagner, who married Tomlin in 2013, changed her mind by saying: "This is the biggest mistake of your life... you've got to get on the phone and tell Jane Fonda you want to take back the resignation.”
"I am grateful that I did it," said Tomlin.
Resnick admitted her original script was much darker and saw the women actually trying to kill their boss – rather than just teaching him a humiliating lesson.
But Wagner was concerned the women wouldn't be sympathetic enough, so the script was reworked by the film's director, Colin Higgins, who died in 1988.
"He was very influenced by Warner Bros cartoons and things like that," Resnick said of Higgins – adding: "So their attempts to kill the boss became the fantasy scenes, and he made it a much broader comedy."
While Parton was already a big country music star, she was a stranger to acting in feature films. In fact, she told her co-stars she thought movies were filmed in the chronological order of the script – which made Wagner and Tomlin laugh out loud.
Parton memorized the entire '9 to 5' script, thinking films were shot in order.
But Parton was so devoted to the gig she learned everyone's lines.
"I memorized the entire script," said Parton, adding: "I just assumed that you had to. My part and Lily's part and Jane's part and Dabney's part. But I just knew the script back and forth, and every week I would read it... I would practice."
Parton not only starred in 9 to 5, she penned and wrote the Oscar-nominated titular theme song, which became a hit in its own right.
Tomlin and Wagner insist they knew the movie would be a success when Parton performed the tune for them one day on the set.
"Dolly sang us the song and used her nails like a washboard," recalled Wagner, now 79. "We knew the feminist movement had a new anthem."
Patricia Resnick always envisioned Parton, Tomlin, and Fonda as the film's leading trio.
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Tomlin added: "It was a big moment, because we knew the song was sensational."
"I thought if the movie is a hit, I'll take the credit. If it's a flop, I'll blame it on them," Dolly jokes of her co-stars.
But the film was no flop, grossing more than $103million.
"The movie was a huge phenomenon," said Jeanine Basinger, a film professor at Wesleyan University.
"People like to say what a giant feminist document it is, but it's a funny, funny movie. It gave you a message in a charming, comic way."
While the movie's three co-stars knew each other before filming began, they became even better friends on set.
But for all the movie's success, Parton, 71, dismisses talk of a sequel because of their advanced age, joking: "People have wanted another 9 to 5, but I think we'd have to call it '95!'"
