Steel Magnolias Turns 35! Daryl Hannah Recalls ‘Supportive’ Costars and Horseback Riding with Julia Roberts (Exclusive)

When Steel Magnolias became an instant cinema classic 35 years ago, it stood out for being more than just a heartwarming depiction of small-town Southern life. As Daryl Hannah points out, a starry cast made up of primarily women was a rarity at the time.

“It was the first time I'd ever really experienced women,” recalls the actress, 63, of her time starring opposite Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine and the late Olympia Dukakis. “Everyone talks about, now, ‘Women supporting women!’ Well, in my day, it was not like that.”

Speaking to PEOPLE with characteristic frankness, she adds that many “competitive and vicious” women she worked with on films “wanted me to basically die” — until Steel Magnolias. “It was really wonderful to have those women be so supportive and encouraging. I just never had experienced that before.”

The Herbert Ross-directed comedy-drama, adapted by Robert Harling from his play of the same name, follows a group of Southern women over the years. Hannah played the meek Annelle Dupuy-DeSoto — a part she insisted on auditioning for, she says, despite Ross wanting her for Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, the part that went to Roberts, 57.

“He was like, ‘No, absolutely not, I don't see it.’ And I said, ‘Please let me,’” says Hannah. Donning her own glasses and fixing her hair to look like the aspiring hairdresser character, she met with Ross about the part. “And he didn't recognize me,” she recalls. “I love that feeling where you really turn into somebody else.”

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After Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias was one of the first movies Roberts had filmed, notes Hannah. “But she was always a very confident girl. She was very confident about herself. I remember her asking [costar] Sam Shepard to write her something, and I was like, ‘Whoa, that takes balls.’”

The two bonded, adds the Splash star, at the house Hannah rented while filming. “I took her on a horseback ride and we had a nice time,” she says, adding that she and Roberts were otherwise “pretty intent on focusing on our work.”

Echoing what Field, 77, revealed in a Vulture interview earlier this year, Hannah says Roberts was especially focused since “Herbert was a little bit tough on her because she was the young one and was trying to make sure she was up to the challenge. So I think she stayed more in a bubble with Sally because they had that mother-daughter kind of bond.”

As for the rest of the female leads, Hannah has nothing but praise: “I did love working with those women and had just absolutely adored Dolly and adored Olympia and Shirley as well. They were just so fun and funny and smart.”

Steel Magnolias had its premiere on Nov. 5, 1989, opening in theaters later that month. Among the accolades it earned was a BAFTA nomination for MacLaine, 90, and an Oscar nomination for Roberts.