Dolly Parton never saw herself as much of an actor, so many of her onscreen roles had her doing what she does best: music. Parton sang in some roles and wrote music for films like 9 to 5. She even dueted with some of her co-stars. When she had the opportunity to do this again in a 1992 film, however, Parton didn’t think it would be a good idea.

Dolly Parton didn’t want to sing with one actor

In 1992, Parton returned to the screen in Straight Talk. In it, she played a woman posing as a clinical psychologist on a radio show. James Woods played an investigative journalist intent on exposing her.

Parton wrote 10 original songs for the film’s soundtrack. The movie is not a musical, but the original version reportedly had Parton singing duets with Woods. She didn’t think this was a good idea. Per the book Smart Blonde by Stephen Miller, Parton’s past experiences dueting with Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone weren’t ones she was in a “hurry to repeat.” Neither Reynolds nor Stallone was a singer, and they faced criticism for their voices.

Dolly Parton said the actor was her best onscreen kiss

While Parton didn’t want to sing with Woods, she liked working with him.

“I love James Woods. People had warned me that he could be difficult to work with, but to me, he was a thrill to be around, although I never saw him off the set,” she wrote in her book Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “He is very talented and intelligent, and I respect him for those things.”

Of all her co-stars, she said Woods stands out to her as the best kisser.

“What I remember him for is that he is a great kisser,” she wrote. “I don’t know what it is that makes one man able to kiss so much better than another. If I did, I would put that in a book that would sell a helluva lot better than this one. Whatever it is, James Woods has it in spades.”

She felt bad that Sylvester Stallone didn’t sound good

In the film Rhinestone, Stallone played a New York City taxi driver whom Parton teaches to become a country singer. His singing drew derision from viewers. Parton didn’t think he had a bad voice; she just didn’t think he could sing country music.

“Well, it’s true that Sylvester Stallone cannot sing country music,” Parton wrote in the book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. “But I’ll tell you what he can sing: old ’50s rock ‘n’ roll songs. That’s what he sang on the set, and it sounded good.”

Parton wrote the songs he sang, and she felt bad that they brought him negative reviews.

“I had to write songs for him to sing, and a lot of people didn’t like that, because he really didn’t execute them very well,” she wrote. “But I think that had to do with the fact that they were so out of his realm. It wasn’t fair to him. I’ll take responsibility for that.”

Still, both Parton and Stallone enjoyed working on the movie together.