Seriously Red star Krew Boylan shares she got "Dolly-fit" for new movie
Daniel Webber and Krew Boylan as Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in Seriously Red. Image: Kane Skennar
“If you’ve got big dreams, you’ve got to put feet and wings on them – that was one of the first Dolly Parton quotes that really started me off on this journey,” Krew Boylan tells Popcorn Podcast of writing her irreverent musical comedy Seriously Red. The Australian actress also has a starring role as Raylene ‘Red’ Delaney, a raucous sometimes clumsy redhead who impulsively trades in her nine-to-five real estate job to become a jet-setting Dolly Parton impersonator.
“I was an actress wanting to get more jobs, or not getting them or getting close, and I didn’t want to sit by the phone waiting for a job to come, or not ever come, to me. So that was the first quote I held onto and went, ‘OK, I’ve got a dream, I guess I’ll do what Dolly tells me to do and put some wings on that thing!’”
It’s that inspirational ‘create your own opportunities’ cup of ambition that’s also at the heart of Boylan’s recently launched production company, The Dollhouse Pictures, co-founded with friends, directors Gracie Otto (Under The Volcano) and Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth), actress Rose Byrne (Irresistible, Bridesmaids) and producer Jessica Carrera (The Last Impresario). All five women collaborated in some capacity on Seriously Red, the company’s first major release and Otto’s directorial narrative feature debut.
So what’s it like working on a project you’re passionate about with your mates? “Unreal!” Boylan says. “We make such a great team. We’ve all got different strengths, but we all have a similar vision. We want to tell stories, and good stories, stories that we’re not necessarily seeing that hit home for us. It’s been the best.”
Read Popcorn Podcast’s interview with Still Working 9 to 5 director Camille Hardman
Daniel Webber (Escape From Pretoria), Boylan’s Seriously Red co-star, adds: “From the outside in, it’s so rare to see a group of women in every position; the directing, writing, starring, producing… I’ve never experienced that. I was so excited to engage with that.”
The film, which premiered at SXSW Film Festival on March 13 to critical acclaim, follows Red’s journey from office clown to in-demand tribute performer, ultimately pairing with (and falling for) Kenny Rogers impersonator Mark (Webber).
“He’s got such gravitas,” Webber says of Rogers, another country music icon and frequent collaborator of Parton’s. “He’s got that Southern gentleman quality about him, which I really wanted to have and thought was funny. In some ways [Mark] is one of the more grounded people in the story, while also being completely disconnected. That was part of the comedy of him.”
Bobby Cannavale and Boylan in Seriously Red. Image: Kane Skennar
Throughout the film, set to a catchy soundtrack of Parton’s greatest hits, we see the evolution of Red as she loses herself behind a façade of blonde wigs, elaborate costumes and the social acceptance found in a giddy sub-culture of tribute acts (featuring an unrecognisable Byrne as a bitter Elvis Presley and her husband Bobby Cannavale as a former Neil Diamond impersonator).
“I had to get ‘Dolly-fit’,” jokes Boylan.
“Like… literally fit?” asks Webber.
“Yeah, holding up in the corsets and the hair. The first week I couldn’t really eat and had a headache,” she says of filming in northern New South Wales, Australia.
“It was so hot up there, and she’s wearing these giant wigs…” Webber explains.
“I was up for it!” retorts Boylan.
Eventually, an onstage epiphany sees Red shed the bells and whistles to lay the real Raylene bare, literally, with Boylan’s enchanting and anarchic delivery ensuring the hot mess of a character is always utterly charming.
“She’s a woman who hasn’t found where she fits in and overcompensates for not being taken seriously,” the actress says. “She’s almost like the clown who runs away with the circus. She’s impulsive and vulnerable and funny – all the things that are seen as weaknesses are actually her strengths. I love her with all my heart.”
“Be yourself because everyone else is taken” – Dolly Parton
Uplifting ‘Dolly-isms’, including, “Be yourself because everyone else is taken” and “Don’t get so busy living, you forget to make a life” are peppered through the narrative – which bounces along in a manner as bubbly and heartwarming as any one of Parton’s hit songs – all comfortably encased in a sparkly, vivacious set design and deftly guided by Otto.
“We devised the colour palette for the film to be [Pedro] Almodóvar-like, selecting only six main colours to keep it vibrant, modern and cohesive,” explains the director.
As for Ms Parton, she’s enjoying quite the popularity resurgence at the moment, with stage musical 9 to 5 (inspired by the singer’s breakout 1980 film role) landing on Australian shores and documentary Still Working 9 to 5 – co-directed by Aussie Camille Hardman – also debuting at SXSW. The superstar’s infectious optimism and self-assured confidence is exactly what the doctor ordered in this time of uncertainty.
In the words of Boylan’s Red: “We need more Dollys in this world!”
