Jane Fonda has enjoyed a successful acting career. She made a name for herself after starring in movies such as Barbarella and Klute. Although she likes what she does for a living, she admits there’s a scene in one of her movies she can’t watch.
Jane Fonda can’t watch this movie scene because it makes her cry
During an interview with Chris Wallace on the HBO Max show Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? Fonda discusses her life and career. When Wallace plays a clip from her 1981 film On Golden Pond, she looks away and becomes emotional. During this scene, Fonda is acting alongside her real-life dad, the late Henry Fonda. Wallace asked her to explain why she didn’t watch the scene.
“Because it makes me cry. I miss my dad so much,” says Fonda. Wallace points out that this movie scene seemed very personal to her. “That scene felt like more than a scene in the movie, it felt,” says Wallace.
“It was,” says Fonda. “You know, I loved my dad and admired him. He was quite a bit like [his movie character] Norman — removed, not able to express. He always liked to do things that were rehearsed a lot. And I purposely did something that hadn’t been rehearsed because I wanted him to be surprised.”
Fonda continued, “And when I said I want to be your friend and I touched his arm, we had not rehearsed that, and he flinches. And he ducked his head, and he puts his hand like this, but I saw that he was emotional. It’s funny for an actor who doesn’t want to be seen as emotional, but he was terrified of emotions. And that meant a lot to me.”
Jane Fonda experienced ‘an actor’s worst nightmare’
Fonda says that scene in On Golden Pond was difficult for her. She describes “drying up” creatively. Fonda was anxious about doing that scene with her father.
“I went to his house that night,” Fonda tells Wallace. “I wanted to talk to him about the scene and because I’d had a hard time with the scene. It was so personal that when we actually got there to do it, I totally dried up. It’s like an actor’s worst nightmare. And I asked him afterwards at dinner. I said, ‘Has that ever happened to you?’ [And he said], ‘No. No.’ That’s it. I couldn’t get him to [open up].”
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Jane Fonda says Henry Fonda was ‘emotionally withholding’
Wallace asked Fonda about her relationship with her father and how she coped with having such an “emotionally withholding” parent. “I would think that would be tough,” says Wallace. Fonda agrees that it was tough for her. She also admits her relationship with her father affected her romantic relationships.
“When a figure of your love is withholding and repressed, it has an impact on a kid and their relationships after they grow up,” says Fonda. “I’ve been married three times. I didn’t have a good hand dealt to me when it comes to relationships.”
Although Fonda and her father had a strained relationship, they were able to make amends before he died. She is thankful they had this chance.
“Before he died, I was able to tell him that I loved him and that that I forgave him for, you know, whatever didn’t happen,” says Fonda. “And I hope that he would forgive me for not being a better daughter. I got to say that to him.”
Fonda says resolving things with her father was “powerful.” She received the closure she had been longing for.
“He didn’t say anything. But he wept,” she says. “And I had never seen that before. I’ve never seen my father break down and weep. And it was powerful.”
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