On the set of Christmas on the Square, nine-year-old Talia Hill walked into the path of an oncoming vehicle when “somebody grabbed me and pulled me back.” As she told Inside Edition, her savior turned out to be none other than Dolly Parton.
Alongside her brothers Tristan (16) and Tyson (13), Talia dances and sings in the new Netflix original movie. Parton plays an angel sent to supernaturally pressure a hardhearted landlord (Christine Baranski) into being a better person. The youngest Hill sibling was impressed as soon as she first met Parton, remembering, “When Dolly walked in she smelled like heaven. She greeted everyone even if you were a trashcan person. It was such a great feeling.”
But as Hill explained, Parton wasn’t just generous with her hellos, she was also perfectly aware of her surroundings. Hill said,
“We were on set and I was at the hot-chocolate station. They said, ‘Go back to your beginning positions.’ So there is a vehicle moving, and I was walking. Then somebody grabbed me and pulled me back. I looked up and it was Dolly Parton. I was, like, surprised, I was like [gasp]. And she’s like, ‘Well, I am an angel, you know,’ ’cause she plays an angel in the movie. And I was in shock. She hugged me and shook me and said, ‘I saved your life!’”
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Parton may save a lot more lives before the year is up. Her $1 million donation helped fund the Moderna vaccine, which is so promising the United States recently doubled its order and purchased an additional 100 million doses. Beyond that, her Imagination Library recently gave away its 150 millionth book, and she came out this year as an enthusiastic supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. Earlier this month, former President Barack Obama admitted he made a “mistake” by not giving Dolly Parton a Presidential Medal of Freedom. You can win a Christmas vinyl collection featuring Parton, Elvis, Mariah Carey, and more through an exclusive Consequence of Sound giveaway.
