Jane Fonda career: Actress reveals director’s comment that almost made her quit acting


Long before she became a household name, Jane Fonda almost gave away her entire career

The 87-year-old actress has detailed a shocking interaction that made her reconsider acting in a Variety interview.

“I had decided after my first movie, Tall Story, that I was going to quit while I was ahead,” Fonda said.

READ MORE: The $14 Bunnings buy selling out after transforming shower glass covered in years of soap scum

Jane Fonda has been on our screens for decades, but once considered quitting her career. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

In the 1960s film, the actress portrays a college student with marriage at the forefront of her mind, following her quest to find a husband.

“I didn’t enjoy the experience,” she explained. 

“And before we started shooting, Josh Logan, the director-producer, said to me, ‘You should have your jaw broken so your cheeks aren’t so puffy.’ Stuff like that really builds a girl’s confidence.”

Thankfully, Fonda changed her mind when director Edward Dmytryk offered her a role in 1962’s Walk on the Wild Side. 

READ MORE: The most mispronounced name in the world is an Irish one – but it’ll surprise you

“That made all the difference in the world. She [Kitty Twis] was a real character,” she told the publication. 

“She wasn’t some cheerleader from next door that I had a hard time relating to. She rode around in a boxcar and then she becomes a hooker in a high-class brothel run by Barbara Stanwyck. And I had a blast.”

Maggie Smith: Then

How screen icon Maggie Smith dealt with ‘difficult’ fame

In the late 1960s, Jane became an activist before pivoting to the fitness industry in the 1980s.

While her relationship with her career began to improve, Fonda has previously expressed that it took her decades to heal her relationship with her appearance. 

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

(Original Caption) 5/9/1970-Washington, DC-"Greetings, fellow bums," is the way film star Jane Fonda addresses anti-war demonstrators gathered on ellipse across from the White House. Her greeting was an allusion to the way President Nixon referred to students during a visit to the Pentagon earlier in the week.
Fonda was a prolific activist in the 1980s. (Bettmann Archive)

“I was raised in the ’50s. I was taught by my father that how I looked was all that mattered, frankly,” Fonda told Harper’s Bazaar.

“He was a good man, and I was mad for him, but he sent messages to me that fathers should not send: Unless you look perfect, you’re not going to be loved. I wasn’t very happy from, I would say, puberty to 50? It took me a long time.”

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.

Leave a Comment