Jane Fonda – Actress, Philanthropist and Activist

By Muriel Vega

She may be a lightning rod for controversy, but you have to admit that Jane Fonda has built an empire – from her philanthropic efforts to her legendary movies and Broadway plays. Unstoppable and courageous, at 72, she’s taking a chance and a move across the country – for her career.

“This is difficult for me,” says Fonda. “I’ve realized over the past few months that if I want to work, I have to be in Los Angeles. It’s very hard for me, after 19 years, to leave Atlanta. I’m going to still keep up with the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and the Jane Fonda Center. Plus the more work I get, the more funds for GCAPP!”

On May 1st, World Fitness Day, a fundraiser for GCAPP, drew over 1500 people. Donning sweatbands and sneakers, they participated in a large field wide group exercise workout at the Georgia Dome, lead by Fonda.

Here, she tells PINK about keeping up with her fast-paced life – and how her father inspired her to make a difference.

PINK: What’s your secret to your professional success?
J.F.: I didn’t follow the rules and I wasn’t at the right place, at the right time. I’m surprised that I’ve had professional success. I’m talented and I’m lucky that I’ve had good directors and scripts. The best business advice I’ve ever gotten was never go into a business you don’t understand. When dealing with criticism, I try to figure out whether or not what they are saying has a basis of truth. Also, I try to lead by example.

PINK: What motivated you to become philanthropic?
J.F.: My father was not a very outgoing person but his movies were very influential in my life – Grapes of Wrath and Twelve Angry Men. They were about men who were willing to take risks to stand up against racism and injustice. There’s a feeling I inherited from him: that service to the community is the rent that you pay for the village you are living in.

PINK: Why is it so important to you to create a legacy?
J.F.: The happiest people are the people who died knowing they’ve made a difference. That difference could be that you’ve raised beautiful children who themselves will make a difference. It doesn’t have to be global or national. And if you are famous, I think there’s a big responsibility to be a role model. I learned that from my father and I didn’t embrace it until I was in my 30s. I realized I didn’t want to be just about me and unhappy when I died. What can I do to get to the end of my life without having regrets? And I think part of it is caring about healing people and about the generations behind us and the future they are going to inherit.

PINK: You have quite the Internet presence. How did you get involved with blogging and Twitter?
J.F.: I started blogging a year ago, when I went to Broadway to do a play. I started because this man in Atlanta persuaded me that blogging would be a good way to get information out about the things that I’m doing. I thought I don’t really like doing this, but it might be interesting to take people through the experience of the day-by-day of a 71-year-old actor going back to Broadway after 48 years. I enjoyed doing it so much and the feedback that I got and I’ve doing it ever since. I get a chance to talk to people about my thoughts and beliefs. I’ve learned a lot from it. Sometimes it’s superficial, for example, when I was making my workout DVD, I asked my blogging community: What should I wear! [laughs].

PINK: What’s the biggest issue professional women face right now?
J.F.: Let’s start with women earning 73 cents to every dollar a man earns. It’s something that affects you later in life. We earn less money so we are much more vulnerable financially than men are. We have to be very sure that we spend our money wisely and that we save and invest wisely. We need to understand our financial situation and not just let our husbands take care of it. Are we going to be taken care of if something happens to him? Are we covered by his pension? Are we in control of our financial futures?

PINK: How do you deal with the pressure to be perfect?
J.F.: The most important thing is to feel good and that comes from inside. If you have a job where they require you to look younger than you are – that’s one thing. I recently had plastic surgery to look a bit more like I feel inside [laughs]. However, you can have all of the plastic surgery you want but if you are not healthy, if you don’t feel good about yourself, you are not going to look good. That’s what’s important. Exercising and being healthy, it doesn’t have to be hard as long as you do it regularly, and it can transform you inside out.

PINK: Why is it important for professional women to find the time to exercise?
J.F.: It will not only improve their physical beings, but also their psychological beings. You feel better, you tend to be less depressed and you think clearer. As you get older, you lose things – muscle mass, brain cells – and exercise slows down that process. You can increase your muscle mass to a 100% and even cut your risk of Alzheimer’s in half.

PINK: Tell me about World Fitness Day and fundraising for GCAPP.
J.F.: I’ve spent the last 16 years thinking about innovative ways to fundraise. I always like to give something back to people for supporting GCAPP – a movie premiere, a roast of me, etc. I’m writing a book for Random House about aging successfully and part of it has to do with staying physically active. I’ve been thinking a lot about that and the catastrophe that this country is facing with obesity. For the first time, our children and grandchildren may not live as long as we do because of obesity. I was thinking if there’s anything I can do that would be splashy, a lot of fun and people can come to support GCAPP but also encourage physical activity. Plus May is Fitness and Teen Pregnancy Prevention month.

PINK: How do you keep up with your fast-paced life?
J.F.: I sleep. I never allow myself to go without eight hours of sleep. When I do, I don’t feel well. Sleep is important throughout your lifespan – especially when you are older. I’m naturally energetic and I exercise but I always sleep. I meditate, I read. I read a lot especially because I’m writing a book that requires a lot of research. I usually spend most of my time writing as well.

PINK: How do you stay sharp?
J.F.: I also listen to my body. If my body sends these signals that I’m stressed or I’m tired, I will take a nap or meditate. You know things are unbalanced when you sit on your glasses, lose things or lock your keys in your car. When you begin to do that, you have to take a second and realize that these things happen when you are not present. Always try to be present so you don’t make mistakes or decisions you’ll regret later. When I am in that state, I try to observe myself and meditate.

PINK: What’s a personal goal you haven’t achieved yet?
J.F.: Every year I want to know more, be a better person and know that I’ve learned from my mistakes.