‘Grace and Frankie’: The role that sent Jane Fonda back to therapy
As society shifted on its axis during the 1960s, so did cinema. The significant changes in many people’s attitudes – particularly those of young people – towards more open-minded beliefs in regard to race, gender, sexuality, ways of living, and war were reflected on screen. Filmmakers were able to push more boundaries in the mainstream, including more taboos within their work which Hollywood previously banned. Jane Fonda emerged during this time, quickly becoming known as an icon of the decade due to her appearances in various risque roles.
Fonda starred in movies in both Hollywood and France, often collaborating with her then-husband, Roger Vadim, who had previously been married to Brigitte Bardot. The filmmaker made many erotically charged pictures, having risen to prominence after directing Bardot in And God Created Woman. With Fonda, he made the iconic Barbarella, which remains a cult classic in spite of the mixed reviews it has received over the years.
In this same field of discussion, Fonda caused shock when she appeared nude in Vadim’s Circle of Love, a role that cemented her popular status early in her career. By the end of the 1960s, however, Fonda’s talents were recognised widely, and in 1970, she was nominated for her first Academy Award after starring in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?.
From there, she earned her first Oscar win two years later for her performance in Klute, a stunning thriller in which Fonda played the call girl Bree Daniel. Ensuring her role was imbued with a feminist sensibility, this marked a turning point for the actor, whose interest in politics and activism was soon reflected in her acting choices.
Since then, Fonda has continued to star in acclaimed movies, earning five more Oscar nominations, winning one for Coming Home. While Fonda’s career on-screen quietened in the 1990s and 2000s, one of Fonda’s best-known projects of recent years is the television series Grace and Frankie, which aired between 2015 and 2022.
Helmed by producer Howard J Morris and Friends creator Marta Kauffman, Fonda and her co-star Lily Tomlin also served as executive producers. The show, which also featured Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, was a success, running for almost 100 episodes and earning various nominations from institutions like the Golden Globes.
The show follows the two titular women as they become friends after they discover that their respective husbands are not only gay but also in love with each other. While Fonda hasn’t experienced the same situation as her character, she found that starring in the series actually brought up a lot of trauma, with Fonda revealing to The Hollywood Reporter that it “took me a season to come to care for my character Grace. I had to go back into therapy and start Prozac.”
She revealed that she had a “nervous breakdown during the first season,” which forced her to confront some uncomfortable emotions. “It was a big trigger, and I didn’t realize that a character like that in a comedy could actually trigger something very profound, and so I love her and I learned to invite her into the room,” Fonda admitted.
Evidently, some characters just hit close to home, and for Fonda, it took a lot of energy to nurture her love for Grace. Luckily, her hard work paid off.
