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.On Lee Marvin: He was a fabulous drunk and a wonderful human being.
), where she and Lee Marvin were hired cheap under contract and forced to work 14-hour days.
He was very funny, and he was always drunk.
We stayed at the same motel, and they had to carry him up the stairs.
But Marvin taught me something very important, she added.
He took me aside and said, Fonda, were the stars of this movie.
We have to stand up for the workers.
That was a huge lesson from Lee Marvin, who wasnt a revolutionary.
He was a fabulous drunk and a wonderful human being.
.On Robert Redford: He just has an issue with women.
I made four films with him, and for three, I was in love with him.
Which meant I had a really good time.
The only problem, she explained, was that he did not like to kiss.
And he was always in a bad mood, and I always thought it was my fault.
We always had a good time.
Hes a very good person …
He just has an issue with women.
(She did not elaborate.)
.OnBarbarella: I had to get drunk.
Not so much now.
Hes had a rough life.
But then, he was the most beautiful human being.
Unlike Redford, he did like to kiss.
We had nice love scenes.
She was less thrilled, at least initially, about the intimate scenes inBarbarella.
At the beginning of the movie, I did a striptease in space.
The next day when we saw the dailies, a bat kept flying between the camera and me.
And we had to do the whole thing over again the next day only I had a hangover.
When the movie was released, Fonda was shocked to see herself nude onscreen.
Vadim promised me it would be covered up with titles, and it wasnt.
She took a pause, then grinned.
We arent married anymore!
.OnKlute: Hire Faye Dunaway.
They wanna sleep with her.
Nobody asked me to sleep with them or anything, she laughed.
I said to Alan [J. Pakula, the director], Let me out of my contract.
They wanna sleep with her.
He just laughed and sent me away.
Im becoming a feminist.
It was so powerful.
(She says her feminist instincts were later codified by a trip to see Eve EnslersThe Vagina Monologues.)
.On her looks: Do you know how many hours I slept last night?
Years and years ago, I had plastic surgery, said Fonda.
Im not proud of that.
Besides that, I have a very good makeup person, and I sleep.
Do you know how many hours I slept last night?
I walk a lot.
And the most important part of that is curiosity.
Fonda explained why she eventually cut off her hair.
Nobody has ever asked me that.
I always had all of this blonde hair, especially when I was with Vadim, she said.
It made me feel safe and feminine.
When I was starting to become political, I decided I needed to get rid of it all.
I went to Vadims barber for men, and he cut it all off.
I felt so liberated.
After meeting them, she said, I was a different person.
I knew I had to leave Vadim and go back to America to become an organizer.
She almost left Hollywood entirely until one organizer told her, Fonda, we have a lot of organizers.
What we dont have is movie stars.
Make movies that matter.
.On9 to 5: Oh my God, I better make a movie about this.
I said, Oh my God, I better make a movie about this.
Originally, the script was a really dark comedy.
But shortly thereafter, she saw Lily Tomlin in a play, and I fell in love.
I suddenly had this image of Dolly typing, recalled Fonda.
She cant see her fingers.
Things dont grow big in the shade.
.OnBook Club: I dont want to do that anymore.
As for her more recent output, Fonda seemed less enthusiastic.
Im still amazed that people offer me movies.
Im almost 86 years old, she said.
And in Italy, we madeBook Clubagain.
But I dont want to do that anymore.
I want to be challenged.
And I want to play something really complicated.
Any ideas on what might be next?
No, she said.
Im too busy trying to fight the climate crisis.
Later, she added that there would be no climate crisis if there was no racism or patriarchy.
Its important, because we have to get out of the silos feminists over here, environmentalists over here.
Thats what I learned when I started being an activist around the Vietnam War.
The more you go down any issue, whatever it is, you realize that its all connected.
.On Hollywood: Dont let the fuckers get you!
Otherwise, I dont feel that Im really a part of Hollywood, she admitted.
I dont go to the parties.
I wish I did.
I dont always get invited.
In part, thats because she always cared about other things besides my career, she said.
It was a terrible move to make from a career point of view.
But then I had activism, she added, which finally gave her life meaning not Hollywood.
It took me until I was 70 to become a person, she said.
While answering a womans question about how to break into the industry, Fonda was characteristically blunt.
Dont let the fuckers get you!
Youve gotta be strong and stand up to them, but do it in a diplomatic way.
You dont want to make enemies.
Its all about relationships.
Thats the big mistake I made.
I never built relationships.Michael Douglas[with whom she starred inThe China Syndrome] is great at building relationships.
I dont think he really likes me, but hes very diplomatic.
.On the Jean-Luc Godard postscript: It was a big pile of bullshit.
He was a great filmmaker.
I take my hat off.
But as a man?
Im sorry, no.
.On Katharine Hepburn: She didnt like me.
So I bought the play and turned it into a movie with him.
Here, Fonda launched into a raspy impression of Hepburn: Hello?
I hear youre making a movie ofOn Golden Pond…
It was Katharine Hepburn.
Of course, we hired her.
It was one of the most glorious experiences of my life.
All three of us were nominated for Oscars, and I didnt win, and they did.
And I called Hepburn up to congratulate her and she said, Youll never catch me now!
