Jane Fonda has opened up about the heartbreaking reasons why she didn't think she'd live to see 30, as he prepares to celebrate her 88th birthday next month.
The 87-year-old actor and activist is one of Hollywood's most beloved stars, having appeared in a string of blockbuster movies including Barbarella, 9 to 5, and Monster-in-Law, among many others.
And while her career has spanned over six decades, Fonda admitted she didn't think she'd live half as long when she was younger.
She admitted on Michelle Obama’s The Look podcast on Wednesday: "I didn’t think I’d live past 30. I was sure I was going to die."
Fonda revealed that her "youth was not especially happy", especially after losing her mother, Frances Ford Seymour, when she was just 12 years old.
"I’m not addictive, but I thought I was going to die from drugs and loneliness," she admitted. "So the fact that I’m almost 88 is astonishing to me."
Despite the hardships of her life, Fonda revealed that she feels better the older she gets: "I wouldn’t go back for anything. I feel more centered, more whole, more complete. I’m very happy single."
While aging is something many people fear, Fonda revealed that she has come to terms with her own mortality.
"More importantly, I’m not afraid of dying," she said. "The most important thing I did was when I was going to turn 60, and in my mind … this is the beginning of my final act, and I didn’t know how to live it."
While she doesn't fear death, the actress revealed that she does fear dying with regrets, after watching her father Henry Fonda do just that.
"I watched my dad die with a lot of regrets," the Oscar winner recalled. "That was an important realization for me, because if you don’t want to die with regrets, then you have to live the last part of your life in such a way that there won’t be any regrets."
She is making sure to live intentionally in her older years, explaining: "I also want to be surrounded by people who love me. … Forgiveness comes into play, including forgiving myself. That actually has guided me in the last 30 years. I’ve been living to not have regrets.
"I think that old age is fantastic if it’s lived intentionally. Intentionality is the key. Really thinking about it."
Fonda also reflected on her philosophy on life, adding: "I’m controversial, and I’m an activist, and I’ve been very unpopular.
"I’m popular right now. It probably won’t last, but I think that it’s important for somebody like me — who’s an activist — to show that I can also look good and then I’m still hirable. It encourages the young ones to not be so afraid."
Fonda was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 SAG Awards, and told the audience at the time: "Your enthusiasm makes this seem like a twilight of my life and more like a, ‘Go girl, kick ass!’ Which is good because I’m not done.
"I have had a really weird career — totally, not as my agents there at that table will tell you, totally unstrategic. I retired for a few years and then I came back at 65, which is not usual, and then I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s and probably in my 90s I’ll be doing my own stunts in an action movie.
"Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘It’s OK to be a late bloomer as long as you don’t miss the flower show’? I’m a late bloomer. This is the flower show."
She added: "I love acting. We get to open people’s minds to new ideas and help them laugh when things are tough — like now. And for a woman like me who grew up in the 40s and 50s when women weren’t supposed to have opinions and get angry, acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions."