The movie Jane Fonda called “one of the most glorious experiences of my life”
As the cultural landscape of the 1960s began to change, so did cinema. Films reflected the political and social progressions championed by the decade, such as greater sexual freedom and rights for women.
Jane Fonda was one of the leading actors from this period to appear in both Hollywood and international productions that championed female sexuality and eroticism. Due to the easing of censors and the changing societal attitudes (beginning to stray further away from traditionalism), Fonda often played women whose sexuality was central to their character, establishing her as a sex symbol.
From Cat Ballou to the numerous collaborations she did with French auteur Roger Vadim, like Circle of Love and Barbarella, Fonda represented a new kind of woman that was rarely seen on screen before. She was even the first American star to perform a nude scene in a foreign film when she stripped off for 1964’s Circle of Love.
As her interest in feminism and politics progressed, she started taking on more challenging roles in movies like Klute, Tout Va Bien, and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? By the late ‘80s, Fonda prioritised other endeavours, taking a break from cinema. However, before she did that, she performed in a movie that she called (via Deadline) “one of the most glorious experiences of my life”.
She was referring to On Golden Pond, directed by Mark Rydell, which saw Fond star alongside her father, acting legend Henry Fonda, shortly before he died. Moreover, she also got to perform opposite Katharine Hepburn, an idol of Fonda’s.
The movie was a huge success, and the Fondas broke Academy Award records by both being nominated for Oscars for their respective parts in the movie, with the senior Fonda winning a golden statuette. Speaking about the film, Fonda said, “It was absolutely wonderful. I made the movie for my father. But the person who I learned from on that movie was Katharine.”
She added, “All three of us were nominated for Oscars, me for supporting, her for ‘Best Actress’, my dad for ‘Best Actor’. I didn’t win. And they did. And I called [Hepburn] up to congratulate her, and she said, ‘You’ll never catch me!’”
Fonda and Hepburn didn’t have the easiest relationship, with the ‘60s icon believing that the classic Hollywood actor just didn’t like her approach to life and how she presented herself. Still, Fonda found it a valuable experience working with someone who held strikingly different values, especially someone renowned for their acting brilliance.
More importantly, Fonda was happy to work with her father, who ended up dying the following year. Thus, the movie was a highly memorable project for Fonda, who looks back fondly on her time working on the film.
