The musician Jane Fonda was “totally obsessed” with
Since her days as one of the leading lights of the counterculture, Jane Fonda has been an icon. Although she emerged through the establishment via her socialite mother, Frances Ford Seymour, and father, Henry, who was one of the most lauded faces of Hollywood’s Golden Era, the Barbarella star has continued to be a voice for righteous causes, carrying the hippie spirit to this day.
Whether it be protesting against the Vietnam War to the extent she was arrested or her constant criticism of widespread misogyny, even though she is 85, Fonda has been an exemplary figure in seeking to make the world a better place. This, in addition to her status as a fine dramatist, with highlights such as Klute and On Golden Pond, has created a tremendous legacy.
Although much of Fonda’s cultural position comes from her own distinct sense of the self, it was also inspired by various famous faces, many of whom she credits with helping her see the light. One of the most important is folk pioneer, guitar hero and activist Joan Baez, a woman who consistently used her position for good. Oh, and she’s also partially responsible for introducing ex-boyfriend Bob Dylan to the world as the saviour of folk.
Remarkably, Fonda spoke to Baez for Interview Magazine in 2023. During the conversation, she revealed that she was “totally obsessed” with the musician and outlined how her freewheeling spirit inspired her to the extent she wanted to be her. Fonda also recalled their first meeting, which Baez had forgotten, which serves as an enlightening time capsule back to the heady days of the 1960s.
Fonda said: “Joan, I don’t know if you know that, in my 20s, I lived in France and got married there. And I was totally obsessed with you. I read articles about how you lived as this free spirit. How everything you owned, you carried in a duffle bag. You slept on couches. I wanted to be you. Do you remember the first time we met?”
Recalling their first meeting, Fonda said she was filming in Rome, Italy, alongside her first husband, the French director Roger Vadim. The couple had rented a very old castle on the city’s outskirts. One afternoon, she looked out the window and saw the actor John Philip Law lying on the grass in the fields with “this woman with dark hair and a lovely cotton dress blowing in the breeze”.
She continued: “I thought, ‘Well, that’s interesting’. And I went downstairs to make dinner. I was making gazpacho and you came in. I couldn’t believe it. I was just gobsmacked. You took my hand and you said, ‘You have such beautiful hands’. I thought I was going to pass out. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. So, I am honoured to be interviewing you”.
Listen to Joan Baez below.
