By Danielle Broadway and Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jane Fonda, the two-time Oscar winning actor and activist with a career spanning six decades and genres across film and television, was awarded the SAG life achievement award on Sunday at the 31st Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. The ceremony was streamed live on Netflix.
“Your enthusiasm makes this seem less like the twilight of my life and more like a ‘Go girl kick ass.’ Because I’m not done,” Fonda said.
“For a woman like me, who grew up in the 40s and 50s, when women weren’t supposed to have opinions and not get angry, acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions, which, as you know, is a bit of a stretch for me,” she added.
Fonda also applauded SAG for being a union that creates empathy and gives actors the chance to understand humanity and “touch souls.”
The actor also took the time to address the United States political landscape with President Trump’s administration.
“We must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to project an inspiring vision of the future,” Fonda added, noting films that she’s been in that have pushed political boundaries.
The 87-year-old is best known for the 1971 film “Klute,” 1980’s film “9 to 5” and the 2004 movie “Monster-in-Law.”
Her more recent appearances have included in the Netflix comedy series “Grace and Frankie” in which she and Lily Tomlin play older women finding new life after divorce.
The New York native is also seven-time Golden Globe Winner who is known for her work in the Broadway show, “33 Variations” in 2009, which won her a Tony for best actress.
Fonda is also known as a political activist, earning the nickname Hanoi Jane for her campaigns against the Vietnam War in the 1970s. She later campaigned against the Iraq War in 2003, and in recent years has held “Fire Drill Fridays” protests highlighting the dangers of global warming.
“It’s hard to separate Jane the activist from Jane the actress. She is ferocious in her advocacy and in her art,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus said before handing Fonda her award.
The daughter of late actor Henry Fonda and sister of late actor Peter Fonda has become a household name within Hollywood.
Fonda is also a producer, author and fitness guru who has almost claimed EGOT status, meaning she is close to winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in her career.
She was nominated for a Grammy in 1983 for Best Spoken Word Or Non-Musical Recording for her “Workout Book for Pregnancy, Birth, and Recovery,” but did not win to obtain EGOT status.
(Reporting by Danielle Broadway and Lisa Richwine; Editing by Michael Perry)
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