Jane Fonda once named her favourite movie role: “I was proud of that. Very proud.”
There are some families that the world of TV and cinema bow to. The Coppolas have given us some of the greatest filmmakers of all time, as well as one of the zaniest in the form of Nicolas Cage, and the Douglas family has produced Oscar contenders for generations. However, few can compare to the majesty of the Fondas, with the likes of Peter, Henry and Jane Fonda coming to reflect the style and class of Hollywood during its heyday.
While Henry Fonda was the first to place his family on the map with a string of iconic performances, such as in the Oscar-nominated movie 12 Angry Men, and his son, Peter Fonda, established a subversive attitude in the industry, it was Jane, the eldest child who would become Hollywood’s brightest jewel. An influential fixture of American cinema throughout the late 20th century, Fonda hastily developed a loyal following thanks to her brave performances that challenged her own progress as an actor.
Soon after joining the industry in 1960, Fonda quickly found herself in the industry limelight, playing the titular sci-fi hero Barbarella in the 1968 film, a movie that would make her a cultural sex symbol and one of filmmaking’s most sought-after actors. Just two years later, and a decade since her acting debut, she would earn her first Oscar nomination, finding great critical success for Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?.
From there, it was plain sailing for the affable acting aficionado, earning a barrage of acclaim throughout the 1970s for such acclaimed films as Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, Fred Zinnemann’s Julia and Hal Ashby’s Coming Home, with each performance steadily making her a more formidable acting force. Such only continued into the following decade, too, with Fonda seeing out the millennium with two Oscar wins and five nominations under her belt.
You’d therefore think her favourite role from her career would be from this period of considerable success, but, instead, Fonda opts for a lesser-known TV movie she calls one of her most underrated performances.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Fonda recalled her fondness for one specific film that went straight to TV back in 1984, telling the publication: “I think the character that I played that I loved the most is a character named Gertie Nevels in The Dollmaker, for which I won an Emmy.”
Adapted from the book of the same name by Harriet Arnow, Daniel Petrie’s film starred Fonda as a woodcarver who joins her husband as he ventures into the city during World War II to find work in the bustling factories. Yet, leaving the countryside for the smog of the city proves to be no easy feat, with Fonda’s character having to carve dolls to scrape up the funds to be able to support their basic needs.
Heaping praise onto her character, Fonda exclaimed: “That’s my favourite character that I ever played – I played a hillbilly – and I was proud of that. Very proud.”
Take a look at the trailer for the Emmy-award-winning TV movie below, which saw Fonda walk away with the trophy for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special’.
