OverSixty January 2023 Issue

25 ENTERTAINMENT OVERSIXTY.COM.AU | ISSUE 3 | JANUARY 2023 Jane Fonda (left to right): at an anti-war rally in 1970; winning an Oscar in 1979; as a fitness mogul in 1985 Photos: Getty Images ENTERTAINMENT working in film, Fonda stepped away from Hollywood, just at the point that she married her third husband, media mogul Ted Turner. While she and Turner divorced a dec- ade later, Fonda returned to her career with 2005’s rom-com Monster-in-Law , opposite Jennifer Lopez. She has since sought out ac- claimed directors like Lee Daniels (playing Nancy Reagan in The Butler ) and Paolo Sor- rentino (whom she worked with in Youth ). Fonda clearly is revelling in this late career bloom, completing a further two films with Lily Tomlin. Moving On sees her and Tomlin play old friends who reconnect at a funeral and decide to take revenge on the widower ( A Clockwork Orange ’s Malcolm McDowell) who crossed them in the past. The second is Eighty for Brady , “with Lily andme and Rita Moreno and Sally Field, about four older women ... obsessed with [NFL star] Tom Brady. Very funny.” Seeing as fortune is the theme of the day, towards the end of our chat, I ask Fonda to pinpoint a lucky moment in her career. “I have many, many, many, many, many,” she says. “Very often they come through books. Chance encounters. “You know, meeting a person who will give you a bit of wisdom at exactly the mo- ment you need it. Or meeting someone who gives you a book that’s exactly the book that you need to read right at that time. That has happened tome all my life. And I guess that’s luck, isn’t it?” Except that Fonda now has the wisdom to realise it isn’t really about luck – it’s about be- ing open to new ideas. “You see, if I wasn’t wanting to get better, and grow, I wouldn’t have read the book. Or I wouldn’t have really listened to what the person said tome,” she says. “So I think being lucky requires a little bit of courage, a lot of curiosity, and a lot of humility.” Update: Fonda announced in September last year that she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. * If you or anyone you know is in need of help, please call Lifeline on 131114.