Sally Field shares she ‘never stopped loving’ Dolly Parton at the Emmy Awards

Sally Field got candid on her precious bond with Dolly Parton.

Sally won the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie award at the 2026 Emmy Awards.

After winning she gave a heartfelt tribute to Dolly in the Emmy press room, saying, “As I was saying, as an actor you spend a whole lot of time, especially me, trying to make yourself cry.”

“And I was trying to make myself not cry. So it was hard. She was a friend. I admire her. I loved working with her. I never stopped loving her. There were moments where we tried to reach each other, but this is a weird world I live in, this acting world where you do films and you’re so bonded with this group of people,” Sally added.

It is worth noting here that Sally has worked with the late country music legend in 1998’s Steel Magnolias and they got close while filming. However, alongside Sally and Dolly the iconic film featured a star-studded cast including, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and, Olympia Dukakis with many others.

Recalling the strong bond the cast members formed while filming, Sally revealed, “It’s like being in battle together. It’s like being in the Battle of the Bulge together.”

She went on to say, “And you save each other’s lives and you’ve got each other’s backs and you spend 24/7 with each other. We would go shopping together, all of us, and go to Walmart together. Can you imagine all of us coming into Walmart?”

Dolly’s former co-star also added, “Though Dolly and I lived so far apart, we could never make it [work to] meet.”

Noting, “We could never find a way. But I never stopped feeling that way about her. The times we did reach out, I think she felt that way about me. I loved her.”

Moreover, Sally also gave an onstage tribute to the late singer at Emmy Awards, “It was my great good fortune to have worked with Dolly in a film called Steel Magnolias, and over the years, I never stopped loving her. Though we lived very far apart, I adored her from day one. How could you not?”

“She was genuine and humble, supportive, and blisteringly funny, with a bawdy sense of humor that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide. I couldn’t see then what a real giant Dolly was — not just as an artist, but as a human,” she further acknowledged.

It is pertinent to mention here that Dolly Parton died at the age of 80 on August 25, 2026 after battling with cancer.