Jane Fonda: "When one is an activist, it helps to make series and movies very popular …" – Cinema

A few hours before receiving the Prix Lumière 2018 in Lyon, Jane Fonda entertained the public gathered at the Théâtre des Célestins for a funny and lively masterclbad, given largely in French. "I'm happy not to be a man, and I'm happy to be old"the 81-year-old star, beaming with green clothes, smiled. Looking back on his Vadim years, his militant years, ettc. Selected pieces

Being a star

"If I am one? Yes … I'm stupid but I'm not crazy, there are people out there asking for autographs, but what does that mean, star? I do not know the word in French, but at the top of the hills there are "repeaters" [des antennes-relais] to help the signal cross the mountains. That's the role of the stars: to be like an antenna at the top of the mountain that amplifies the voices of people who are not stars. "

The vocation

"I did not want to be an actress. My father [Henry Fonda] He was a great actor, but when he came home in the evening, he was in a bad mood, I did not feel that being an actor brought joy. I did not like my body or my face. I had to make money. I lived at my father's house, my mother-in-law did not like me very much, I had to move. I tried to be a secretary, but I was quickly kicked out. I was sick, it's very difficult to be young, being old is great. In 1957 or 58, I met Susan Strasberg, Lee's daughter [le patron de l’Actor’s studio]. She said : "Maybe you need to study with my dad". I spent a scene and Lee Strasberg told me I had talent. Everything changed: as if my head had been opened, and birds had come out! I had the approval of someone who was not paid by my family …. I discovered that I liked being an actress. I owned New York! "

The Oscars

"The first time I was named[for[pourWe finish the horses well, in 1970]I did not think much about Hollywood people. When I heard about my appointment, I was on an Indian reserve. Roger Vadim accompanied me to the ceremony and I did not win. When I won for KluteTwo years later, I cried because I had won before my father. My father had shot in Grapes of Wrath, in Twelve angry men – a lot of anger! Later, when I wanted to leave the profession, to devote myself to activism, I was told: we have plenty of organizers, but we do not have movie stars. You have to get back to it. So, I produced my own movies, starting with Return. And it became a pbadion. "

The commitment

"I was in Paris in 1968 and I was pregnant. A pregnant woman is like a sponge. It was the time of May 68, of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Deserter soldiers came to Paris. Simone Signoret brought me to the demonstrations where there was Beauvoir and Sartre. I thought I needed to understand the war better. Vadim did not care about anything, but he knew Americans would not win in Vietnam.

One day I knocked on the door of Simone Signoret's country house. She has opened : "I was waiting for you". We sat down, she explained to me the history of Vietnam. After, I left Roger Vadim, I came back to fight. It's easier to be ignorant. Once we know things, we can not turn their backs on them, or we are guilty too. "

Work with Vadim

"Vadim offered me a role in Round. I said I will never make a movie with him. And then I met him at a party with a mutual friend, and he was not at all like I was waiting. It was soft and comfortable like an old shoe. He taught me songs. [Elle se met à chanter] : "Ah here is the keel …", "In the rue des Blancs-Manteaux, the executioner is the veto". He was so charming, I fell in love. And the rest is history. We shot Barbarella, I am proud to have given their first erection to teenagers of 14 or 15 years! At first I did not really like the movie. I became a feminist, and feminist journalists told me: "You are not ashamed to make a film where you are so objective" ? But no one had forced me. Today the movie amuses me a lot. Vadim loved to put his wife naked in the arms of very beautiful actors … He loved to try the devil? He was half Russian, so very complicated! "

In the USA

"We finish the horses well was a turning point for me: it was the first time I made a film that said something about the world, the American society consumed by consumerism. The scenario was not very good, Sydney Pollack was not engaged originally. But Vadim loved Horace Mc Coy's book, he told me I had to do it. Pollack was amazing, he was an actor, so he knew how to work with them. I feel like a play dough, I like being directed. And every director is different. Fred Zinnemann[whodirecteditin[quil’adirigéedansJulia]only took two or even one. But it was a genius in the choice of the position of the camera. The place of the camera said everything. "

Activism

"After a while, the studios did not want to hire me anymore. But my career did not come first. Now if. I discovered that when you are an activist, it helps to have very popular series and movies. I must remain popular. It was the time of J. Edgar Hoover, the boss of the FBI. The FBI spied on me, but it made me even more stubborn. I tried them and won! I went to Vietnam in the spring of 1972. We had received news from the Swedish and French diplomats, warning us that the American bombers were targeting the dykes that protected the lands of the peasants just before the monsoon. Hundreds of thousands of people would have died if the dikes had given way. I said to myself: if I go to Hanoi, it will make some noise. And it did, and the bombardment of the dikes ceased two months later.

I could talk about this trip for hours, it was such a touching experience, people were so kind. On the last day, they asked me to pose in front of an anti-aircraft gun, and I was wrong to do it. I will regret it all my life, I still pay the price. I survived militancy, but I am white, rich, and well known. And I became a better actress thanks to my activism: actors live behind walls of privileges. Activists learn to listen to other people from other communities.

Before Trump I thought I could learn to garden, or write a novel, but the day after the election, it was no longer possible. This is the first time that many people in the United States realize that there is racism in the open, that democracy is in danger. The patriarchy was wounded by women, and by blacks. That's why the patriarchy is trying to make a comeback, to undo everything Obama has done, to put women and blacks back in their place. A wounded monster is the most dangerous! Patriarchy everywhere is fighting against the progress of women and social and ethnic minorities.

We are active as ever. That's the only thing I thank Mr. [elle refuse de dire le nom Trump]. We must fight to protect democracy and the climate. It's a race against the clock and there will come a time when it will be too late. It may be too late already. "

Tom and Ted

"With my second husband, Tom Hayden, we ran out of money for our activist activities. I decided to do a business based on the gym to earn money for activism. But I received letters from all over the world: "Gymnastics has changed my life!". I realized that what I was doing was worth something, in itself. Thomas Jefferson said: "The revolution begins with the muscles". Well, I do not really know what he meant. In the early 80s, I was at the beginning of menopause, I was discreet, and I met Ted Turner, the most charming, the most brilliant. The TCM chain, you have it in France? Well, it's my ex-husband who made it! He bought the MGM to have a large catalog of films. I remember: at our first date, he told me: "I did not even stay long enough at the MGM to use casting couch [la promotion canapé]. " "