Jane Fonda covers the April 2021 issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine photographed by Mario Sorrenti and styled by George Cortina. How Jane Fonda became the most RADICAL WOMAN in HOLLYWOOD. Again. On Newsstands 4/6.
On who inspired her to focus on climate change: “As is often the case in my life, it was Naomi Klein. Her book On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal—like her books have always done—has sort of shaken me open in some ways. But all my life it’s been reading a book that has set me off on a new trajectory. I was saying, ‘What can I do?’ And I was very depressed because I knew that I needed to do more, and I just didn’t know what. Naomi wrote the science so clearly. And she explained the Green New Deal to me.”
On holding President Joe Biden accountable and her expectations for his presidency: “Well, people of color and young people put him in office. There’s no question. And he made promises. So we have to hold his feet to the fire and make sure that he follows through. And so far it’s looking good, although—let me just give you an example of where there’s a problem. He has [revoked the permit for] the Keystone XL pipeline. But why didn’t he at the same time say, ‘And we’re putting in motion a just transition,’ so that all those workers are not going to be floating around without a job? It would’ve been so easy for him. He’s a big union guy, Biden. And he didn’t do it. And we don’t understand why. So now we’re pushing.”
On her idea of intimacy: “Should I tell you this? I don’t know. Okay. I’ll be truthful. One of the painful things that I’ve realized by 80—I don’t even know how old I am—83, and single now. What I’ve had to really think about is that I’m not really capable [of intimacy]. It’s not them. It’s me. If a guy had come along and said, ‘Come on, Fonda, show up,’ I would have run away scared. I was attracted to men who never would have done that to me because they couldn’t necessarily show up themselves. I didn’t know that at the time, but now I know. I don’t think I can do anything about it now, but that’s the truth, as Lily [Tomlin] would say. That’s the truth.”
“I don’t want to be in a relationship, a sexual relationship, again. I don’t have that desire. Do I fantasize? Yes, here’s my fantasy. I’ll just put it out there. That I meet a professor or a researcher, somebody in that line who is really capable of loving, of cherishing a woman, so that I could test myself and see if I could show up. I think maybe now I could, but the problem is that, like a man, I would want a younger man. Isn’t that awful? It’s a thing about skin. I would want a younger man, and I’m too vain.”
On how her definition of “power” has changed over the years: “You know what changed my definition of power? Going to North Vietnam [in 1972]. Going to a country that was not industrialized, where most of the people were peasants and fishermen and -women. They didn’t even have heavy equipment to fill in bomb holes and stuff, and we couldn’t defeat them. That taught me that power has to come from inside. It has to come from knowing who you are, why you’re on earth, what is the meaning of your life. That’s power. If it’s all about armor, possessions, and weapons, that’s not power. That’s other things. It’s the Vietnamese who taught me about power, and I’m forever grateful. And it helped me understand what to do with my third act, because third acts are scary. It’s not the getting old part. It’s the finiteness of third acts.”
On television vs. film acting: “I was one of those movie people who, for a long time, was snobbish about TV. Aaron Sorkin offered me this ongoing role in The Newsroom, and I realized, ‘This is my future.’ I’m old. Television is more forgiving for older women, and so I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to start paying attention.’ So I started watching TV, and now I don’t know if I’m going to go back into movie theaters. I just love television. I just love discovering Michaela Coel, for example.”
Style Credits:
Cover: Ralph Lauren Collection Dress
Image 1: Mugler Archives Jacket | Paco Rabanne Pants
Image 2: Valentino Gown
[Photo Credit: Mario Sorrenti for Harper’s Bazaar Magazine – Video Credit: Harper’s BAZAAR via YouTube]
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