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Lily Tomlin Explains Why 9 to 5 Sequel Didn't Appeal to Original Cast; Jennifer Aniston to Produce Remake
Lily Tomlin reflects on the challenges of remaking 9 to 5, noting how much the workplace has changed and why a sequel never happened.
Lily Tomlin acknowledges that remaking the 1980 comedy classic 9 to 5 would be challenging, particularly because the workplace has changed so much since then. This is why a sequel never materialized.
Lily Tomlin reveals why the original cast passed on from 9 to 5 sequel
Lily Tomlin said in a People interview, “We had one official crack at the script, 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!”
The trio ultimately decided to pass, with Parton telling Entertainment Tonight that they had “dropped the whole idea.” She said then, “I don’t think we’re going to do the sequel, we never could get the script where it was enough different than the first one, and that one turned out so good.”
Jennifer Aniston is now producing a reimagining of 9 to 5, with a script by Oscar winner Diablo Cody.
Upon the news Tomlin told People, “I felt sort of the same way I felt about the musical, you know, part of you feels rejected. You think that character’s yours always. And you could reembody it.”
Tomlin chuckles, acknowledging how much the workplace has changed in the last 44 years. 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."
Lily Tomlin's journey in the entertainment industry till now
Tomlin's comedy has always been about “understanding people,” but growing up, she didn’t see herself or her humor on TV. Female comedians then mostly talked about husbands, children, or shopping.
Starting as a stand-up in Detroit and breaking out on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In in 1969, Tomlin, now 84, created iconic characters like Ernestine the telephone operator and Edith Ann, a precocious 5-year-old. She wanted to create a world that made more sense.
Over the years, the Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner has delivered memorable performances in films, TV shows, and on stage, like her 1977 Broadway one-woman show Appearing Nitely, written with her longtime partner Jane Wagner. “No one makes me laugh harder,” Tomlin says of Wagner, whom she married in 2013.
Next month, Tomlin appears in Netflix’s Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution, a documentary that explores how she and other LGBTQ+ comedians honed their wit amid the struggle for equality, turning pain into humor and laughter into change.
Tomlin told the outlet, “The world has opened up in its ability to relate to gay people,” she continued, “I feel proud that I was a part of that. I just can’t believe there are more people unlike us than like us. And I don’t mean gay — I mean human.”
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution is set to release on Netflix on June 18 2024.
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