Jane Fonda "I Used To Want To Be Perfect. That'll Kill You"

The legendary Hollywood actress talks activism, ageing and the vital role that luck has played in her career

- James Mottram

"READER'S DIGEST HAS been around longer than I have!" guffaws Jane Fonda when I introduce myself. She's 84 now, but the iconic actress and activist has clearly not let the passing years dim her self-deprecating sense of humour. Nor has age withered her. The one-time fitness guru, who almost singlehandedly created an empire from her Jane Fonda Workout videos, still looks utterly fabulous.

We're chatting over a video call, with Fonda seated in an ornate living area next to a tasteful orange-hued floral display. Dressed in a blouse bedecked with bold yellow, pink, and grey stripes, she's every bit as immaculately groomed as her surroundings. Ostensibly, we're here to talk about her new project Luck, an animated film now appearing on Apple TV+, which gave her a rare opportunity to take on a voice-over role (as a pink-suited dragon, no less).

"I was very happy because I want to do more voice over," she says. "First of all, it interests me. I like animated films. Also, I'm old! It's a great way for an old person to stay involved because it doesn't matter how you look. It doesn't matter if you can't walk. It doesn't matter if your hair is bad, or whatever! Any of that doesn't matter. It's just being able to understand an animated character and figure out how to bring her to life. And I like that challenge."

It's interesting to hear Fonda speak so pragmatically about the business, and so enthusiastically about a career that she once left behind. Put simply, it's in her bones. Her father was the legendary actor Henry Fonda, famed for such classics as The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men. Her younger brother was Peter Fonda, who starred in Easy Rider. Fonda herself starred in a string of classics, from kitsch space romp Barbarella to 1970s dramas Klute and Coming Home, which both won her Best Actress Oscars.