Jane Fonda says Dolly Parton scolded her for crossing eyes in photo: ‘Looks like we’re making fun [of people]’

Joey NolfiTue, September 1, 2026 at 2:11 PM UTC

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Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda in ‘9 to 5’Credit: Everett CollectionKey Points -

Jane Fonda tearfully recalled memories of her friend and late 9 to 5 costar, Dolly Parton.

Fonda said Parton respected people so much that she once scolded Fonda and Tomlin for crossing their eyes in a photo together.

The Oscar-winning actress also said she “sang backup for Dolly at the Grand Ole Opry” in the ‘70s.

Jane Fonda has revealed that her late 9 to 5 costarDolly Parton regularly clocked in to make sure all people felt respected.

The 88-year-old Oscar-winning actress remembered her friend and collaborator in a new Democracy Now interview, in which she tearfully reflected on ways Parton helped her in various aspects of life — including holding her accountable for an unintentionally offensive slip-up in a photo session they did with fellow 9 to 5 actress Lily Tomlin.

“She meant love. She really did. She loved everyone,” Fonda told the news program when asked what Parton, who died Aug. 26 at age 80, meant to her after they became friends before filming the 1980 workplace comedy 9 to 5, about a trio of overworked women who attempt to get even with their tyrannical boss by kidnapping him.

‘9 to 5’ stars Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane FondaCredit: 20th Century Fox/Houston Chronicle via Getty

She continued, “On a photo session, me, Dolly, and Lily, for fun, we crossed our eyes. They took a picture of us with our eyes crossed. [Dolly] got very upset. She said, ‘We never can show this to anybody. It looks like we’re making fun [of people]. I have a relative who’s cross-eyed, I don’t ever want to see this picture.’”

Fonda also praised Parton for giving back to her fans — including those in her home region of Tennessee, where she grew up in a family that had little money.

“They loved her so much,” Fonda said, adding that “it was so clear that she absolutely respected them” and “never played down” to those in the Appalachian region that loved her so much.

“She always was pulled together, she always who she was, out of respect for her fans. She taught me the importance of acknowledging and respecting fans,” Fonda added. She also told a story about how Parton helped her prepare to play the role of an Appalachian woman who moves from the region to Detroit in the 1984 television film The Dollmaker.

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“She invited me to Nashville, and we spent 10 days driving through Appalachia and meeting people,” Fonda remembered. “The first night I was in Nashville, she announced to me that I was coming with her to the Grand Ole Opry and I was going to sing backup. I sang backup for Dolly at the Grand Ole Opry! Nobody knew who I was.”

After news of Parton’s death broke last week, following the icon’s brief battle with cancer, both Fonda and Tomlin remembered their 9 to 5 friend and collaborator in emotional statements.

Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda in ‘9 to 5’Credit: Everett

Tomlin wrote on social media that Parton was a “Friend. Songwriter” and “The Great Harmonizer of Humanity,” in addition to sharing a photo of the pair. “Dolly. Dolly. Dolly. Forever Dolly,” Tomlin continued.

In a social media post of her own, Fonda said she was “devastated” by news of Parton’s death.

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“I never knew anyone like her. She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves. She was many things…lyricist, songstress, player of many instruments, writer, prankster, visionary, loyal friend, who’d never go to bed before she and her friends had laughed so hard they’d have to cross their legs,” Fonda wrote on Instagram. “She had a survivor’s instinct and seemed to always know just what to do, just what to say, to make things right...and then she’[d] stick her butt out the car window and moon Kenny Roger[s’] home. She was the voluptuous embodiment of empathy. That’s something of hers she’d want us all to take with us.”

on Entertainment Weekly

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