Actor Lily Tomlin has shared her thoughts on Jennifer Aniston’s remake of the classic movie, 9 to 5, admitting that part of her feels “rejected” by the project.
The 1980 American comedy starred Tomlin alongside her Grace and Frankie co-star Jane Fonda, and “Jolene” legend Dolly Parton.
The movie follows three women, Doralee (Parton), Judy (Fonda) and Violet (Tomlin), who take revenge on their sexist boss. It was adapted for the stage by Parton, with a production opening on London’s West End in 2019.
The trio had initially turned down attempts at a sequel, but the idea has since been picked up by Friends actor Jennifer Aniston, in a screenplay written by the Oscar-winning writer of Juno, Diablo Cody.
Sharing her reaction to the news, the 84-year-old told People, “I felt sort of the same way I felt about the musical. You know, part of you feels rejected.”
The Emmy-award winner added: “You think that character’s yours always. And you could reembody it.”
Tomlin was sceptical about the success of a remake as she said, “It’s going to be tough to make [the movie] happen. My sympathies are with Jennifer and her writer, Diablo, who is a good writer.”
Parton had previously told Entertainment Tonight that the group had “dropped that whole idea” when discussing the possibility of a sequel featuring the legendary trio.
“I don’t think we’re going to do the sequel,” Parton said at the time. “We never could get the script where it was enough different than the first one, and that one turned out so good.”
“We had one official crack at the script,” Tomlin said, explaining the reasons behind the decision.
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“The draft just didn’t work for us. We couldn’t really see the work world today [in the pages]. People work from home. They take gig work. They don’t even know their boss. They’re at home!”
Parton joined Tomlin and Fonda for the final episodes of their hit Netflix series, Grace and Frankie, which came to an end in 2022 after seven years. The trio had remained close friends since they worked together on 9 to 5.
