The actor Jane Fonda instantly fell in love with: “It was hard not to”
With decades upon decades in show business, there are few things that Jane Fonda hasn’t witnessed with her own eyes. The daughter of Peter Fonda, Jane had to fight her corner in Hollywood early on as swathes of the elite diminished her talents as pure nepotism. A difficult task to overcome for anybody, but a young lady trying to make her way in the world of cinema in the 1960s was a tough gig at the best of times.
She would show enough mettle, talent and courageous endeavour however, to discourage the naysayers pretty early on and embark on a career that included being both America’s sweetheart and public enemy number one, as, durong the latter years of the Vietnam War, she travelled to North Vietnam and earned herself the nickname ‘Hanoi Jane’. There is little left to surprise Jane Fonda about show business.
However, there is one moment that will remain ingrained in her career forevermore: the name, the chiselled face, and the captivating charisma of Robert Redford. Their first meeting would be on the set of The Chase, a 1966 picture exploring the complexities of small-town America. This project would be the first seed in what would become one of the most fruitful partnerships in Hollywood, and Fonda knew it from the very start.
She would later admit she fell in love with the handsome lead almost immediately, “I thought, ‘Oh gosh, he’s going to be a big star,'” Fonda says when noting how criminally good-looking Redford was, seemingly able to empty offices of their employees simply by walking past on the pavement. Fonda fell head over heels for Redford like everybody else in America: “It was hard not to. It was his looks and his manner. There was always a mystery because he didn’t reveal everything. He’s got an aura about him.”
The Chase started their relationship but it would be a year later, on 1967’s Barefoot in the Park with both stars rising into the public domain most prominently, that they would cement their chemistry as one of the msot beloved on-screen couples in Hollywood history. Fonda’s effervescent charm as Corie Bratter paired effortlessly with Redford’s reserved portrayal of Paul Bratter, creating a dynamic that audiences couldn’t resist.
The next decade would see the two stars experience more serious roles. Fonda would earn herself an Academy Award for Kulte in 1971, while Redford would perfect his anti-hero archetype in both Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting before the duo would again reunite in 1979 for The Electric Horseman. Nearly four decades later, they would once again star in a movie together for 2017’s Our Souls at Night, a picture from Netflix that would place the two stars as ageing neighbours on the brink of a tender love affair.
Jane Fonda has seen behind, in front of and to the side of every curtain in Hollywood. She has known the bright lights and the darkest moments, but there is a good case to suggest she has never met another friend quite like Robert Redford, the man she fell in love with at first sight and has rarely looked away from.
