Ross King: When Jennifer Aniston and Dolly Parton met a real Dumplin’

I’M used to my producer shouting “Dumplin’!” down the phone.

But when he did it last week it wasn’t – for once – an insult aimed at me.

I was being sent to interview Jennifer Aniston and Dolly Parton on their fantastic new movie, called Dumplin’.

It was yelled out so much in the stands of Firhill I thought it was the name of a player, but it’s also a fairly common nickname in the American South.

That’s where Jen and Dolly’s movie, which is being released on Netflix, is set.

It tells the story of a plus-size teenage daughter of a former beauty queen – played by Jen – who signs up for her mum’s pageant as a protest.

Dolly’s music runs right through the film, and she provided a new soundtrack for it.

I’ve interviewed both Dolly and Jen before, but having the pair of them together is just a dream combination.

Jen was asking about my recent MBE (which I don’t like to talk about) and she told me she hadn’t had a moment with The Queen – unless you count Dolly!

The pair trade jokes like old pals, and it was a pleasure to have a wee natter with them on that sort of form.

Jen is such a fan of Dolly that she has a dog called Dolly Parton! “I said, ‘do you have a dog named after me?’ when we met,” said Dolly. “When I went to her home I asked if I could meet Dolly Parton, who’s also blonde. She came traipsing through the house.

“I was so flattered until she started shouting, ‘Dolly! Don’t eat out of the bowl! Don’t pee on my couch!’”

I always have that problem when the family come over from Scotland.

For Dumplin’, Jen had her producer’s as well as actor’s hat on – and I wondered what Jennifer the boss thought about working with Jennifer the mega-famous star of Friends.

“The producer thinks Jennifer is quite lovely to work with, easy, shows up and knows her lines…” she laughed.

“Seriously, it comes quite easy to me. Being part of the baking of the pie is much more interesting than just being the cherry in the pie.

“I got to meet Dolly and talk about the music we were going to do – it was just a dream. And now it’s real!

“There’s something so pure and genuine about Dolly.”

I’ll be back next week with a look at some of my highlights of 2018 – and I don’t mean the ones in my hair!