The wrong answer that cost Jane Fonda an Oscar-nominated role: “I made a mistake”
Before Jane Fonda was known as the legendary actor she has come to be, she had to fight off the nepotism allegations as she entered the career in the shadow of her father, Henry Fonda. The iconic star produced two famous children in Jane and her brother Peter, the co-writer and star of Easy Rider, but many critics were initially hesitant to believe that Fonda’s children could be as successful as him.
The young Fonda could hardly admit to her career getting off to a good start when she appeared in her debut film, Tall Story, alongside Anthony Perkins. Released in 1960, it was starkly different from Perkins’ other project that year – Psycho – and instead saw him playing a college athlete. Meanwhile, Fonda played June, a student who only signs up for university in the hopes of meeting a husband.
However, within a decade, Fonda would be known for her staunchly political and feminist persona, winning an Oscar for her incredible performance in Klute in 1971 while starring in empowered roles like Nora in A Doll’s House. She even starred in Jean-Luc Godard’s Tout va bien, his Marxist drama about class struggle and a factory strike, proving that she wasn’t simply the child of a famous star who had fallen into acting – she was an incredibly dynamic and unforgettable star who often channelled her political beliefs through her roles.
Fonda found herself facing controversy when she posed on an anti-aircraft gun while in Vietnam, but she refused to water herself down for the sake of public opinion. Yet, there was a time when Fonda wasn’t half as confident as she came to be, and it even cost her a role that earned an Oscar nomination.
While she was starting out, Fonda was asked by none other than Elia Kazan, who directed classic movies like A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and Baby Doll, whether she was ambitious. In response, she said something she ended up regretting – ”No.”
Talking to Maclean’s, Fonda revealed how she wishes she could’ve gone back and answered differently, because her response prevented her from securing the lead in Splendour in the Grass. “No, I would say, ‘Yes, I am ambitious.’ The minute I said it, I knew that I’d made a mistake. Not that I didn’t know if I was ambitious or not, but I knew it was not what he wanted to hear. But it was an answer that came from cultural conditioning. Good girls aren’t ambitious.”
She continued, “Before that, when [acting coach, Lee] Strasberg interviewed me about accepting me into his class, he thought I seemed extremely conventional and boring, except for my eyes. That was all due to my demeanour. How I presented was very much, ‘I’m a good girl. I’m the way my daddy would like me to be. No, I’m not ambitious, and I don’t get angry. No, I’m not all that smart either.’”
Luckily, as the feminist movement picked up steam in the 1960s, Fonda came to realise how important it was for her, as a woman, to stand up for herself and embrace her ambition and talent. The leading role in Splendour in the Grass instead went to Natalie Wood, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, although she lost out to Sophia Loren for Two Women.
