Jane Fonda never thought she’d live this long.
“I didn’t think I’d live past 30,” Fonda, 87, shared during the Wednesday, November 19, episode of “The Look,” a special series from Michelle Obama’s “IMO” podcast. “I was sure I was going to die.”
Fonda explained that her “youth was not especially happy,” recalling her mother Frances Ford Seymour’s death when she was 12 years old. (Her father is the late famed actor, Henry Fonda.)
“I’m not addictive, but I thought I was going to die from drugs and loneliness,” Jane explained. “So the fact that I’m almost 88 is astonishing to me.”
She added, “I wouldn’t go back for anything. I feel more centered, more whole, more complete. I’m very happy, single.”
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Elsewhere in the episode, Jane explained that she’s “never” been afraid of getting older.
“More importantly, I’m not afraid of dying,” she explained. “The most important thing I did was when I was going to turn 60, and in my mind … this is the beginning of my final act, and I didn’t know how to live it.”
At the time, Jane reflected on her biggest fears.
“I’m afraid of dying with a lot of regrets. I watched my dad die with a lot of regrets,” she explained. “That was an important realization for me, because if you don’t want to die with regrets, then you have to live the last part of your life in such a way that there won’t be any regrets.”
Jane continued, “I also want to be surrounded by people who love me. … Forgiveness comes into play, including forgiving myself. That actually has guided me in the last 30 years. I’ve been living to not have regrets.”
The podcast episode with Obama, 61, focused specifically on aging as women.
“I think that old age is fantastic if it’s lived intentionally,” Jane added. “Intentionality is the key. Really thinking about it.”
The actress also explained her theory on staying healthy and continuing to take care of her body as she gets older.
“I’m controversial, and I’m an activist, and I’ve been very unpopular,” she said. “I’m popular right now. It probably won’t last, but I think that it’s important for somebody like me — who’s an activist — to show that I can also look good and then I’m still hireable. It encourages the young ones to not be so afraid.”
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Jane spoke candidly about her career and continuing to act in her 80s earlier this year when receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards in February.
“Your enthusiasm makes this seem like a twilight of my life and more like a, ‘Go girl, kick ass!’ Which is good because I’m not done,” she said. “I have had a really weird career — totally, not as my agents there at that table will tell you, totally unstrategic.”
She added, “I retired for a few years and then I came back at 65, which is not usual, and then I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s and probably in my 90s I’ll be doing my own stunts in an action movie. Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘It’s OK to be a late bloomer as long as you don’t miss the flower show’? I’m a late bloomer. This is the flower show.”
