The iconic role Bridget Fonda refused to audition for: “For fear I might really like it”
Born into a famous acting family with Peter Fonda as her father, Henry Fonda her grandfather, and Jane Fonda her aunt, it would only be a matter of time before Bridget Fonda stepped up to the plate.
In fact, she first appeared on screen when she was an absolute youngling, playing an uncredited role as a child in a commune in her father’s film, Easy Rider. She was just four years old at the time, although she was subsequently kept out of the spotlight until she was old enough to make her own decisions, returning to the big screen in 1987 for the movie Aria.
Fonda’s career was kick-started by a role in The Godfather Part III, which led to various film opportunities across the ‘90s, from Doc Hollywood and Singles to Little Buddha and Jackie Brown, but by the 2000s, she had stopped acting, making her final onscreen performance in the TV movie Snow Queen.
While Fonda has never explicitly revealed her reason for quitting acting, it seems like a combination of preferring to live a normal family life and recovering from a serious car accident contributed to her stepping away from the spotlight. When stopped at an airport by a videographer for the Daily Mail, she was asked if she ever plans to return to Hollywood, to which she replied, “No, it’s too nice being a civilian”, and you have to hand it to her for that.
Things could’ve looked a lot different for the actor, though, if she had read a certain script. Back in the ‘90s, Fonda was given the script for the soon-to-be-legendary comedy-drama Ally McBeal, but she refused to read it. Talking to the New York Post in 1999, she revealed that her preference for movies over TV led her to reject the leading role before she’d even read the script, although she admitted it’s something that she might regret one day.
“Right now I’m doing really well with my film career, but that may all change, and I’ll turn on Ally McBeal one night and start kicking myself. I refused to read the script for fear I might really like it. I’ve never wanted to do TV. I love feature films too much,” she said.
Many actors find themselves strictly on the side of movies, turning down sitcoms and long-running roles in several-season dramas. While some people see these as lesser roles compared to feature films, others simply aren’t up for the extent of the commitment that comes with such parts, and it seems like Fonda just wasn’t interested in giving herself over to the small screen.
“I’m not kicking myself for having passed on Ally McBeal,” she said, “Even though it’s a huge hit, I’ve been acting long enough to know it could have been a complete dud with me in it. It may work as well as it does because of Calista [Flockhart].”
With Flockhart in the leading role, Ally McBeal became a mega-hit, winning several prestigious awards and running for a total of five seasons. It was a defining role for Flockhart, and perhaps Fonda’s career would’ve panned out differently if she’d just glanced at the script, but it seems like she is much happier now that she doesn’t live with the constant pressure of being a star.
