Actress Jane Fonda not really bothered being ‘closer to death’ at 84

Jane Fonda says she is grateful to still be able to work despite her age. Photo: AP

Jane Fonda, one of Hollywood’s most esteemed actors and activists, is simply grateful and not at all bothered by being “closer to death” at 84 years old.

Fonda spoke about her age and the changes in her body, in an interview with correspondent Tracy Smith in CBS Sunday Morning, as seen on its YouTube channel on April 24. Another veteran actress, Fonda’s Grace And Frankie co-star Lily Tomlin, was also in the interview.

“I’m super-conscious that I’m closer to death and it doesn’t really bother me that much,” Fonda said. “What bothers me is that my body is, you know, basically not mine. My knees are not mine, my hips are not mine, my shoulder’s not mine.”

Fonda shared her opinion on ageing, noting that she is grateful to still be able to work despite her age.

“The fact is if you’re alive and relatively healthy at an older – I mean, I’m almost 85 – the fact that I’m still alive and working, wow, who cares if I don’t have my old joints and I can’t ski or bike or run anymore?” she told the correspondent. “You know, you can be really old at 60, and you can be really young at 85. Health!”

Fonda also revealed that she stopped drinking alcohol, adding how having one drink at night is enough to make her “half-mast” the next day.

"Now, that wasn’t true when I was younger. But as you get older, I think alcohol affects you differently. And I only have so many tomorrows left,” she stated. “I don’t want to be at half-mast for any of them.”

Fonda and Tomlin play two octogenarians who view their age “not as a death sentence but a victory lap” in Netflix’s Grace And Frankie. The show is wrapping up its seventh and final season, which is set to premiere on April 29. – Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network