Emily Osment loves the idea of more guest stars on Georgie & Mandy’s 1st Marriage — but which role does she want Dolly Parton to play?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Osment weighed in on possible characters the hit CBS series could add in future episodes.
“I’d love to meet Mandy’s grandma, whoever that may be. I know Montana [Jordan] and I have talked about that quite a bit like, ‘Man, we really, really want to know who Audrey’s mom is,’” she noted. “Because you don’t get that way from thin air. We want to know the woman that shaped her to be that way.”
Osment noted that Parton, 79, would be the perfect fit for the show.
“We always want Dolly Parton — that’s our No. 1 goal,” she added. “I think that would be very cool but it’s out of my hands.”
Before playing Mandy on Georgie & Mandy’s 1st Marriage, Osment got her start as a child star with a multitude of memorable roles — including on Hannah Montana. Disney fans might remember that playing Lilly on the beloved sitcom allowed Osment to share the screen with Parton, who played Aunt Dolly.
“I’ve worked with Dolly before. I don’t know if she remembers,” she told Us. “It was a very long time ago and she’s so fabulous. It was probably a blip on her journey but [working with her again] would be my dream.”
The Big Bang Theory, which aired on CBS from 2007 to 2019, starred Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch as a group of scientists and their significant others.
CBS later launched the Young Sheldon prequel, which focused on Sheldon’s life (Iain Armitage) as a child prodigy growing up in Texas. Viewers met Sheldon’s brother, Georgie (Jordan), which paved the way for his love story with Mandy to inspire another spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s 1st Marriage.
Young Sheldon allowed Osment to work with another iconic country star: Reba McEntire. The singer, 70, played a hairstylist named June before moving to Happy’s Place, where she stars alongside former Reba alum Melissa Peterman — who was also on Young Sheldon.
“I want Melissa Peterman back,” Osment shared. “I think [her character] Brenda and Audrey would be such a funny pair in town. I would love to see that friendship. So we would love Melissa when she’s not doing Happy’s Place.”
In addition to Georgie & Mandy’s 1st Marriage, Osment told Us she wasn’t ruling anything out when looking for new possible roles on both the big and small screen.
“It really depends on what comes across my desk. If I look at something and I know that if I work on it, I’m going to be proud of myself and proud of the work that I do and proud of the product that comes out of it, then that’s something that I want to work on,” she noted. “And Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage is a show where I’m so proud of what we’re doing here. It’s working because I’m having a lot of fun, and if it’s not fun, then it’s not working. I look for stuff that enriches my personal life.”
Osment has also prioritized supporting philanthropic causes such as joining the board of American Rivers.
“This was such a huge surprise for me this year, and I’m so grateful that they took a chance on me. I’ve never acted on a board before and my interest in them came very organically. I am very outdoorsy, and I’ve met some incredible people on some of the river trips that I’ve taken. This past year, I did an eight-day off grid trip down the Colorado River with about 17 people I’d never met before,” she recalled. “I met some incredible folks from American Rivers, and by day three, I talked to CEO Tom Kiernan.”
She continued: “I didn’t go to college for water law but I’m really interested in the way that we preserve the life of rivers in America. It’s got such a huge impact that people don’t really know and it’s really important to me. This is something that I can do, that feels important and that we’re going to see a change in our lifetime, which is very cool. It’s fascinating and they are doing some incredible work that I’m really proud of.”
Georgie & Mandy’s 1st Marriage airs on CBS Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET and episodes are currently streaming on Paramount+.
