I feel it's quite beautiful. Your body forces you to slow down, but then you can go deeper into things. I like not being able to rush anymore. I do cardiovascular work. I do -- I lift weights and do resistance work.
I work on my balance. I have terrible balance. I fall over FONDA You know, I do -- I made some -- I got back into the exercise business because when I realized the importance of exercising and staying active when you're older, I thought, well, who better than me?
I'm old. I can't do everything I used to do so I'm going to be able to do programs for people, some of whom maybe have never worked out in their lives. One of the things that I do is practice balance. And you can see very clearly that it's all I can do to keep from falling over. REHM What about returning to both stage and film to keep your head sharp? I hadn't done a movie in French for 40 years. And it was a lot of fun. The brain part is really interesting because it's not just -- if you've always done crossword puzzles or quilting or whatever, that's great, but to keep your brain plastic and healthy you have to do new things.
I'm going to try taking tap. I saw a play, "Anything Goes" recently and I was so impressed I want to get into tap. I'm taking tennis lessons. I've never played tennis before. REHM How wonderful for you to do that.
But you've got to be easy on that hip and that knee. REHM All right. Now, I'm going to ask a very personal question. The last time you were here in , I said to you that I was never going to get a facelift because I wanted my children to grow old -- see me grow old.
I had bags removed from under my eyes and, you know, some waddles taken out from under my chin. And I'll tell you why I did it. I -- you know, I feel so good and I would walk by a store window and catch a sight of myself and it was like, oh, who's that?
And I decided that I wanted to look more like how I feel. And, you know, if I wasn't an actress, maybe I wouldn't do it, but I wanted to get back into the business. You know, I quit the business for 15 years, 10 to be with Ted Turner and 5 to write my memoirs.
And now I'm getting back into movies and I want to buy myself a little time. So I did it and I'm not proud of it. You know, I really admire Vanessa Redgrave, my dear friend who has this great face who also is I'm not quite that brave. And I grew up -- I was really -- the messages I received growing up was if you're not perfect, you won't be loved.
And while I've overcome that maybe 85 percent, I still -- that lingers, you know. I do worry about how I look too much, I think. FONDA Well, he would complain if I wore a belt that was too tight or a bathing suit that was too small or a shirt that was too -- you know, too short. He -- you know, I will never forget. Gary Cooper and his wife Rocky were friends of my father's. And their daughter Maria was a close friend of mine, Maria Cooper. And she reminded me -- I interviewed her for my book and she said, you know, one day we went to the beach and she said, my mother told me that your father said Maria's -- Jane's got the body, but Maria's got the face.
And it really stunned -- first of all He objectified me. He didn't mean to. He wasn't a bad person. That was -- it was just the way he was brought up, I guess.
However, he did feel that men were supposed to be a certain way. They were supposed to be -- you know, never cry, don't be a sissy And that was very hard on my brother. You know, women were supposed to be this way, men were supposed to be that way. And, you know, it made it hard for both of us. But I -- you know, I write -- one of the most important things that I did and I write about this in "Prime Time" -- one of the reasons that I feel this sense of wellbeing now is that I did -- what I came to discover is called a life review.
I went back and really researched myself as a young child and growing up. Who were they? They were both dead so I had to find people who knew them. And what that does is it shows you it really had nothing to do with you. It wasn't me. They had their own issues. And then you can forgive them and you can forgive yourself, you know. The feelings that you choose to cling to about certain events and realities in your life. Now then, scientists -- cognitive scientists say that when you have certain responses over and over again, negative responses to events or realities or people, it creates neuropath ways in your brain.
Chemical and electrical signals are sent to your brain. And stress is really bad when you're older. If you can, through a life review -- and I talk in the book about how to do a life review -- or through meditation or cognitive therapy, you can alter the way you respond to things in your past.
New circuits are created in your brain that are healthier for you. And that becomes hardwired. You have a new way of looking at life. REHM I went through cognitive therapy. What kind of therapy did you have? FONDA Well, it was a type of cognitive therapy that also it was a lot of work with the body, with breathing.
And it was -- I did it so that I could try to save my marriage to Ted, but it ended up saving me. It was very, very helpful. And on top of that, I've learned to meditate, which was very hard for me to do. It took me a long time. But one of my favorite chapters in my book is called the "Work In. You go inward and I learned to meditate and that's made all the difference in the world to me. I do it when I need it, which is a lot of the time. Her new book is titled "Prime Time.
Let's go to Lakewood, Ohio. Good morning, Joan, you're on the air. Edward Roush. He was from Indiana. You used to come in to -- make an appointment to come in and talk to him. And I have to admit we were a little nervous because we thought we were expecting this formidable woman walking in, and got a warm and gracious Jane Fonda instead.
Roush that he reminded you of Jimmy Stewart. And he was -- he floated for about a week after that. And he gave standing orders that whenever you called you got put through. I just turned 59 and I haven't read your book -- I turned 59 last Monday, so I'm looking forward to it because my goal right now is to match my mom.
When she was 80, she could do 75 full blown pushups. JOAN And at the gym, her trainer used to hold her up to the guys in the gym and say, if she can do it, you can do it. My goal is to at least do 50 full pushups to match my mom. And happy birthday, too.
I remember all of the people that I met with. And I -- it was an incredibly wonderful experience for me. I remember Senator Fulbright. I remember, you know, lots of them. And I was glad I had the experience of lobbying. That was to end the war in Vietnam. And, you know, the biggest difference, as far as I can see, is there was civility. Republicans and Democrats talked to each other, they worked together, they compromised together.
I pray to God that we get that back. REHM Indeed. Thanks for calling, Joan. Now to Syracuse, Ind. Good morning, Christine. Fifty-seven years old. My question to Jane is -- I know she's a born-again Christian and I'm not interested in her personal point of view, because that's kind of singular and quite personal, but how has becoming a born-again Christian altered or changed your perspective about what used to be -- you know, you were a political opponent, and I'm curious as to how your perspective has changed as far as your Christianity.
You know, see photographs of your mother, but boy, oh boy, you two both look like dad. So was he saying that he wasn't enamored with his own looks? Opponent of what? I remember you in your second husband's campaign. And how has become a born-again Christian changed your attitude I am a Christian. Becoming a Christian, which happened to me when I was 58 years old -- and a lot of it had to do with the fact that I moved from Hollywood to Georgia, thanks to Ted Turner, and began to meet people that I loved and admired a lot, like Andy Young, like Jimmy Carter and others who I would talk to incessantly about their faith, what it meant to them, what it looked like, what it felt like.
And I became a Christian in -- when I was 58 and it made all the difference in my life. REHM And we're back. Jane Fonda is here in the studio. She's looking as glamorous and into it as ever. And, of course, she writes about much of her life now that she is 73 and a half and into what she calls her third act, which she titles, "Prime Time.
We're going to take as many calls, as many of your e-mail as possible. REHM Here's one from Steve who says, "You have the most political movie star in the history of movies in the studio and you haven't asked her whether she's still opposed to war.
I mean, who wouldn't be opposed to war. Yes, I'm opposed to war. I'm opposed to violence. I -- one of the things that I focus on now in this third act is trying to address the question and stop violence against women and girls, which happens worldwide.
I work with the young girls and boys in Georgia still. My nonprofits are there and I, you know, I try to do what I can, you know. REHM War is very much with us. You had your own experience as you protested the war in Vietnam. Why do you believe there have been so few protests regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Libya? I think it's complicated now. You know, we were attacked, huh. It's very, very different than Vietnam where, you know, this was a people far, far away.
They never attacked us or threatened us. There was a draft and so we were more viscerally involved across the board. I think that starting with the -- after the government -- it was the Bush Administration then was very clever at manipulating public opinion in such a way that we supported going into Iraq, even though it was the wrong place to be. And I also think that, well, people don't know quite what to do now about it.
It's supplemented by many almost too many experts offering advice, quotes, poems, and research results. That said, this is not a tell-all book. Fonda leaves out most personal details of her three ex-husbands and two children. But we learn that her mother, who had been sexually abused as a youth, tragically killed herself in a mental institution on her 42nd birthday, when Fonda was That her father was distant and critical, telling Fonda she was fat.
That she later battled anorexia and bulimia. That she suffered a breakdown at age 51 at the onset of menopause, and had plastic surgery at age These challenges allow the author to step down from her celebrity pedestal.
Readers will likely read on to see how she overcame them. Near the end of the book, Fonda promotes "generativity"—the nurturing of the younger generation, to enrich the third act. She recounts how she herself benefited from Katharine Hepburn's wise mentoring during the filming of "On Golden Pond" 30 years ago.
This is some of the best advice in the book. The final chapters are frank discussions on preparing for one's final resting place literally and the role of spirituality and meditation in the completeness of life. This book covers so much ground, there is sure to be something that resonates for anyone from middle age on.
If nothing else, the many gorgeous black-and-white photos taken of Fonda and her family across the generations make great eye candy. While we all know she looks great for her age, to look as truly radiant as she does at seventy-three turning seventy-four next week we also know there must be more to it than diet and exercise—not to mention minimal plastic surgery.
You discover that you are still yourself, probably even more so. But with this mindset Fonda outlines for us, we can look forward to growing old and being the most ourselves. One of the defining ideas in her book is the idea that we all have three acts.
The first act consists of your first thirty years of life when you are meant to learn and begin discovering yourself. The second act, from age thirty to fifty-nine, usually consists of building a career and a family. The third act, from age sixty to beyond, typically entails leisure and pleasure. In addition to giving tips on living a long, healthy life, Fonda addresses the inevitability of death and the importance of embracing our mortality while we still have the chance.
She suggests doing a life review, something that can provide greater insight for your remaining years by delving into the past. Based on her own experience with this exercise, it seems she has found a way to focus on the important aspects of her life and let the small annoyances drift away.
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