When Julia Roberts walked onto the set of Steel Magnolias, she was still a young actress on the edge of becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Dolly Parton was already Dolly — famous, successful and instantly recognizable.

But it wasn’t Dolly’s fame that Roberts would remember most. It was something she said during one exhausting day of filming.

The movie was shot in the intense Louisiana heat, with temperatures reportedly approaching 100 degrees. Between the heavy costumes, long hours and outdoor scenes, members of the cast were understandably uncomfortable. Roberts remembered everyone trying to cool down — everyone except Dolly.

Finally, Roberts asked Dolly how she could sit there in her wig and heavy clothing without complaining.

Dolly’s response was simple.

She explained that as a little girl, she had dreamed of becoming famous and wealthy. Now that those dreams had come true, she wasn’t going to complain about the inconveniences that came with them.

For Roberts, the message landed immediately.

She later said she “never forgot” that moment. Whenever she found herself beginning to complain, she would remember Dolly sitting on that porch and the lesson behind her words: appreciate the life you once dreamed of having.

It became one of those small behind-the-scenes moments that revealed something much bigger about Dolly Parton.

Despite her enormous fame, Dolly carried a sense of gratitude that the people around her noticed. And for a young Julia Roberts, working on one of the movies that would help launch her into superstardom, that lesson arrived at exactly the right time.

Steel Magnolias was released in 1989, with Roberts starring alongside Dolly, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis. Roberts’ performance earned her her first Academy Award nomination.

Decades later, it wasn’t only the movie Roberts remembered.

It was Dolly’s words.

And perhaps that is why the story still resonates: sometimes the advice that stays with us the longest isn’t delivered in a speech.

Sometimes it’s just a few words shared on a hot Louisiana porch.