1. The movie came this close to ne'er happening. Because, actually, Robert Harling ne'er intended to beryllium a playwright, earning a grade astatine Tulane University Law School earlier pursuing his acting dreams to New York City. After his beloved younger sister got sick and passed away, however, helium was inspired. "I wrote it to someway get this existent communicative disconnected my thorax and to observe my sister successful the process," helium told The Huffington Post successful 2014. 

Like Steel Magnolias' Shelby, helium told Garden and Gun, Susan's diabetes meant bearing kids could beryllium life-threatening: "But she wanted a child, she went up and had a child, and then, definite enough, her metabolism started to fail—circulatory system, kidneys, the full thing. It was overmuch grimmer than I portrayed successful the play."

Initially helium intended to constitute a abbreviated story, successful portion to stock with his nephew 1 time to explicate what happened to his mom. But a fewer pages in, helium felt helium wasn't accurately capturing the women's dialogue, truthful helium switched course. Within 10 days, he'd scribbled retired an entire play. 

2. The names were besides based connected a existent story. Shelby's parent M'Lynn (Sally Field) was taken from a adjacent friend. Shelby (Julia Roberts) was the sanction of 1 of his mother's cousins, Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) "a fabulous aunt" and Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) from his sister's champion friend. "She successful nary mode resembled the character," helium said of the municipality curmudgeon. "But determination was conscionable thing astir the sanction that fit."

Personalities were besides lifted from the radical helium grew up with successful Louisiana. "I've ne'er told a surviving psyche who Ouiser is based on," helium shared, saying helium was disquieted it mightiness offend. But erstwhile radical came to spot it, "Lo and behold, each pistillate successful municipality was saying, 'He based Ouiser connected me.'" 

3. They didn't expect radical to find the funny. "We played it similar a drama,"said Margo Martindale, who took connected the portion of hairdresser Truvy successful the play, mostly acceptable successful the municipality salon. (Her relation was aboriginal adopted by Dolly Parton.) "And past the archetypal nighttime it was successful beforehand of an audience, we were shocked. It was riotously comic and played consecutive arsenic an arrow." 

The mode Harling sees it, helium conscionable happened to cognize a batch of hilarious ladies. "They each emotion one-liners and they speech successful bumper stickers," helium told Huffington Post, "and they're sharp, comic women."

4. For the family, the communicative was a spot to openly grieve. "That play truly did enactment miracles," Harling's brother John told Garden and Gun, "and I don't usage that word lightly." Echoed his father, Bob, "I felt happy, I felt sad, I conscionable couldn't judge what was happening. But I was mostly feeling good, proud. It was a memorial to my daughter."

As such, Harling's father, uncle and next-door neighbour each invested successful the production. At archetypal helium disquieted astir the currency they'd lose, past helium realized that wasn't the motivation: "They weren't looking to marque money, they wanted to enactment the continuation of the saga."

5. The movie came unneurotic arsenic rapidly arsenic the play. Producer Ray Stark was among those approaching Harling to instrumentality the play to Hollywood.

He floated the thought of shooting successful his hometown and promised to "get the top formed you tin imagine," Harling told Huffington Post. "That's however it came to maine and past Ray got Herbert Ross to nonstop it and past it was this domino effect of superstar aft superstar."

6. Revealing that "somebody had told Elizabeth Taylor that M'Lynn was the cleanable relation for her," Harling recounted that erstwhile she came to spot the play, "I was reasoning astatine the time, 'Elizabeth Taylor's going to beryllium determination and perceive the line, 'When it comes to suffering, she's close up determination with Elizabeth Taylor.' No 1 laughed harder than she did." 

7. Bette Davis made a hard sell. Harling really assumed helium was being pranked erstwhile the movie icon rang, inviting him for beverage astatine her New York City hotel. Once there, she pitched herself arsenic Ouiser, Elizabeth Taylor for M'Lynn and Katharine Hepburn for Clairee.

"It was fantastic," Harling told The Huffington Post. "If I ever constitute a book, it's a complete, unthinkable chapter. She basically, bless her heart, wanted to amusement that she was up and astatine 'em and doing it. There was cipher other and she was looking fabulous." 

And taking nary prisoners. Telling the communicative to The Morning Call successful 1989, helium recounted her parting phrase: "You whitethorn springiness the relation of Ouiser to idiosyncratic else. But you and they volition perceive from Bette Davis."

8. But it's hard to reason with Shirley Maclaine. When manager Ross sent the publication implicit to the Oscar-winner, helium said immoderate portion was hers but for M'Lynn and Shelby.

"So I work it and I said, 'I privation to play the truly b--chy one,'" she recounted to Garden and Gun. "I deliberation I was rehearsing for my aged age. I was seeing if I could get distant with saying what I negatively felt and inactive beryllium funny. And it's benignant of turned retired that way, actually." 

9. Meg Ryan turned them down. Which, successful retrospect, it's hard to accidental she made the incorrect call. "The time we offered it to her, she came backmost and said, 'I conscionable got offered this movie with Billy Crystal, When Harry Met Sally, and that's my accidental to beryllium a starring lady,'" Harling remembered. "'In Steel Magnolias I'd beryllium portion of an ensemble.'" 

10. While producers had a database of known stars they were considering, including Laura Dern and Winona Ryder, "The casting manager said, 'There's this girl. She hasn't been capable to audition due to the fact that she's been disconnected making immoderate movie astir pizza," said Harling. When the Georgia native came in, caller from filming Mystic Pizza, "It was similar idiosyncratic bumped up the lights. She smiled that smile. She was the essence of the large Southern gal: spicy, witty, smart, with a furniture of compassion underneath." 

11. Nicole Kidman took a stab arsenic well. One of the Aussie actress' earliest parts was Shelby successful the Sydney accumulation of the play. 

12. And it turns retired Maclaine has an oculus for talent. "The infinitesimal Julia walked into the reading, I thought, 'That pistillate is going to beryllium a star,'" she told Garden and Gun. "I called my cause and said, 'I don't cognize if she has an agent, but you should grip her.'" 

13. Because Stark insisted they movie connected location, the formed trucked down to Louisiana. "It helped that Natchitoches is gorgeous," said Harling. "Anywhere you constituent the camera you're going to framework a bully shot."

But bringing successful the indispensable equipment, positive uncovering rental accommodations for the big-named stars, turned the accumulation into an extravaganza. As Harling enactment it, "The circus had travel to town." 

14. Every nighttime Parton and her squad (an assistant, bodyguard and hairsbreadth stylist) dined astatine the aforesaid spot, "a edifice called Mariner's retired connected Sibley Lake," nonmigratory Tom Whitehead recalled to Garden and Gun. As a result, the seafood spot remained sold retired for the full of the sprout arsenic "people filled it up to spot Dolly Parton eating successful the backmost corner."

15. Louisiana successful the summertime presented immoderate challenges. But portion MacLaine admitted astir of the formed were "always complaining" astir the heat, determination was ne'er a peep from Parton.

"There was Dolly with a waist cincher nary much than 16 inches astir and heels astir 2 feet precocious and a wig that indispensable person weighed 23 pounds," said the star. "And she's the lone 1 who didn't sweat." 

Even erstwhile a Christmas country required her to swelter successful a cashmere sweater. "Julia said, 'Dolly, we're dying and you ne'er accidental a word. Why don't you fto loose?'" Harling recounted. "Dolly precise serenely smiled and said, 'When I was young and had nothing, I wanted to beryllium affluent and celebrated and present I am. So I'm not going to kick astir anything."

16. Roberts lived up to her aboriginal billing arsenic America's sweetheart. As Harling remembers it, the twentysomething histrion was anxious to person his parents' blessing to play their daughter. "She'd travel over, and Daddy would navigator hamburgers," helium shared, "and they'd talk, and she'd constitute poesy and she'd work america the poetry."

Oftentimes, helium continued, Parton would articulation the party, "sit connected the sofa and play her guitar. It was conscionable beyond surreal." 

17. During the summertime of 1988, Dukakis' cousin, Massachusetts politician Michael Dukakis, was moving for president against George H. W. Bush and she was heavy involved, adjacent speaking astatine the Democratic convention. Though the municipality was mostly Republican, said Harling, "there were immoderate radical who enactment Dukakis signs successful their gait to beryllium neighborly."

18. MacLaine told Garden and Gun she made the astir of being in Louisiana by studying the locals and "walking done their lives a little." Making her mode done town, "I'd spell to the crystal pick store and the mag spot and the video store," she said. "I conscionable wanted to spot however radical acted, however they belonged to themselves." 

19. She besides indulged successful immoderate timely backtalk. Director Ross "could beryllium sometimes precise stern and sometimes precise harsh," MacLaine told Us Weekly astatine a 2013 screening. "My deepest memories of the movie were however we bonded unneurotic aft helium told 1 of america oregon each of america we couldn't act." Seeing him spell aft Roberts "with a vengeance," she continued, she felt the request to support the young histrion who was staying adjacent doorway to her and coming implicit for nightly pep talks. 

"Then 1 time I fundamentally told him to spell f--k himself," she told Garden and Gun, "and everybody heard it and things got better." 

20. The manager reportedly took purpose astatine Parton arsenic well. "I retrieve the time Herb said to Dolly Parton, 'Why don't you instrumentality immoderate acting lessons?'" MacLaine shared astatine the aforesaid 2013 lawsuit arsenic erstwhile costar Field hovered nearby.

"You don't accidental that to Dolly Parton!" Field responded. "Dolly Parton is perfectly the funniest, wittiest and filthiest, and she volition chopped you to ribbons."

21. With Harling connected acceptable for some the wedding country and the funeral, manager Ross suggested helium play the minister. He agreed, provided helium wouldn't person to accidental much. "People person said, 'Well, you're an idiot, you conscionable person 1 line, what's the substance with you?'" helium told Huffington Post. "But that's not what it was for. The movie had precise small to bash with me."

22. Roberts came distant from the acquisition with much than conscionable an Oscar nod. Dating Liam Neeson erstwhile she began filming, the histrion fell hard for costar Dylan McDermott, her onscreen husband. The brace became engaged earlier splitting up a twelvemonth aft the movie's release. 

23. Even the tiny details successful the movie were existent to life. Ross hired Susan's existent doctors to play Shelby's aesculapian team, and the caregiver who turned disconnected Susan's beingness enactment machine, did truthful for Shelby successful the movie, arsenic well. Having grown adjacent with Roberts during the shoot, Harling's ma chose to beryllium connected acceptable for the scene. 

"I said, 'I can't judge you enactment yourself done that,'" helium recalled of the shoot. "She said, 'No, I wanted to spot Julia get up and locomotion away.'"

24. MacLain took umbrage with radical labeling the movie a chick flick. "To accidental it's a women's movie I don't deliberation that's correct," she told Entertainment Tonight successful 2014. "If you've got women successful your life, bring them to spot this movie and you'll cognize overmuch much astir them erstwhile you spell home."

25. Filming was a spot similar being astatine a sleepaway camp. With small to bash successful the tiny town, helium shared, they'd often stitchery astatine nighttime to play Pictionary and Charades. "Everyone got on great. It was conscionable similar Camp Magnolia," Harling insisted to The Morning Call. "Olympia would telephone up and accidental 'Come over, I person immoderate leftover squash soup.' Or Tom Skerritt would whip up immoderate blistery fudge sauce. Or we'd bent retired connected Shirley's porch, which overlooked a lake. We ever had a shot together."

26. Those evening chats provided the inspiration for Soapdish. Harling told Huffington Post helium wrote the screenplay for the 1991 drama starring Field arsenic a self-absorbed soap opera prima aft the unit spent a nighttime discussing their imagination roles.

While MacLaine wanted to play an alcoholic and newcomer Roberts conscionable wanted to work, Field, helium said, lamented that she was ever formed as "really noble, earnest women that deterioration crummy clothes. For erstwhile I'd similar to play a bitch that gets to deterioration bully clothes." Enter: Soapdish's Celeste Talbert.

27. True fans tin afloat immerse themselves successful the film. Arlene Gould, enforcement manager of the Natchitoches Convention and Tourism Bureau, told The Shreveport Times the movie "had a tremendous interaction connected the tourism commercialized and connected our community." Official tours are inactive connected connection contiguous and diehards tin adjacent enactment astatine M'Lynn's house. The 19th period Cook-Taylor House served arsenic the backdrop for her residence and successful 2003 it opened arsenic a furniture and meal called The Steel Magnolia House. 

28. Harling's nephew—Susan's son—earned immoderate superior clout aft Roberts played his mom. During a 2014 appearance connected Today, Harling recalled a clip the teen was having occupation successful school. Checking successful to marque definite helium was okay, helium was floored by the response. "Oh no. Don't interest astir me," Harling recounted of what helium was told. "Everybody likes me. They deliberation I'm truly cool." 

Whcih deed Harling "like a ton of bricks," helium said. "He doesn't retrieve his mother, but helium does cognize arsenic a teen that his parent was truthful cool, it took the biggest prima successful the satellite to play her."

29. MacLain forecasted the film's success. As she had said astir Roberts, the seasoned prima knew determination was thing peculiar astir Steel Magnolias. Dressed up successful parkas and sweaters to recreate the Christmas festival, Harling told Today, "I retrieve Shirley turning to maine during 1 of those scenes and saying, 'Ya know, I deliberation this could beryllium important.' And, you know, Shirley's ne'er wrong."

30. And the formed remained adjacent with some Field and Parton paying tribute to Dukakis aft her 2021 death. Perhaps it was the affectional quality of the storyline oregon the information that everyone stays choky with their campy friends, but, "We truly did marque accelerated friends, each of us," MacLain told Garden and Gun, "and person been ever since. I don't cognize what it is astir the taxable substance successful the movie, but going done that makes you friends for life."