BuzzFeed had the opportunity to talk to Julie Murphy — author of Dumplin’ — as she spilled some behind-the-scenes secrets about the cast and set! Here are a few fun facts we learned that made us want to watch it again…and again and again.
1.
Jennifer Aniston mistook one of the Dolly queens (Jason Cozmo, who impersonates Dolly regularly) for Dolly herself.
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
“We’d heard that Dolly might visit set, but then she had schedule conflicts, so that couldn’t happen,” Julie told BuzzFeed. “But when Jen saw Jason from across the set, she thought Dolly had decided to surprise us. It was hilarious!”
2.
Julie Murphy got to keep Rosie’s beauty pageant sash and Will’s name tag from Harpy’s.
Netflix
“The crew also gifted me with my very own pair of red Converse high tops to commemorate the whole experience.”
3.
Jennifer had a milk and cookies food truck sent to set during one of the long overnight filming days at The Hideaway.
Netflix, Kevin Winter / Getty Images
“Jen is one of the most generous people I’ve ever met. She was always doing little special things like that. Jen is really passionate about this project. It wasn’t until after filming that I realized she had such personal ties to the mother/daughter relationship.”
4.
The scene with Will and Ginger where Will tears the scarves she’s using for her magic trick was totally real.
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“Danielle accidentally pulled too hard on the scarves. Her and Ginger’s reaction was 100% authentic.”
5.
Anne Fletcher, Kristin Hahn, and the rest of the producers were so smitten with Ginger that they decided to expand the role they offered her and most of her lines were improvised.
6.
When Julie saw Maddie Baillio in Hairspray Live!, she immediately emailed the producers and asked them to figure out a way to use her for the movie.
7.
Almost the entire movie was filmed in Georgia.
8.
Dolly already owned a copy of Dumplin’ before her manager even told her it was going to be a movie.
Balzer + Bray, Kevin Winter / Getty Images
“Fans and loved ones had been telling her about it for a while already.”
9.
Harold Perrineau’s roll was the last and hardest roll to cast.
Rich Fury / Getty Images, Netflix
“The moment he agreed to take the part, he left his house in search of LA drag shows for research.”
10.
The producers took the cast to a Sunday drag brunch so they could get to know each other.
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11.
Julie Murphy has a cameo in the film! In one of the very last scenes, she can be seen sitting in between Ian, her husband, and Kristin Hahn, the screenwriter.
13.
Danielle and Jennifer recorded a song with Dolly Parton for the movie.
Rich Fury / Getty Images
Dolly wrote the song because she loved the mother-daughter dynamic in the book and wanted Jennifer and Danielle to be part of it.
15.
Noah Centineo, who played Peter Kavinsky in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, kindly passed on the torch of “Internet Boyfriend” to Luke Benward, who played Willowdean’s love interest, Bo.
16.
Danielle said a challenging part of this experience was nailing down the Texas accent (she is originally from Sydney, Australia) and she’d really try to practice hard on set.
18.
And finally, the cast really is one big, happy family.
Netflix
“The crew kept coming up to me to tell me that it doesn’t always feel this magical and that casts don’t normally gel like this.”