On Wednesday morning, the two-time Oscar-winning Hollywood star Jane Fonda was interviewed by Michelle Obama on the former First Lady’s IMO podcast. There, Fonda surprisingly revealed why she was convinced that she’d be dead by age 30.
Fonda Didn’t Expect To ‘Live Past 30’
“I didn’t think I’d live past 30,” admitted Fonda, 87. “I was sure I was going to die.”
Fonda went on to explain that her “youth was not especially happy,” recalling her mother Frances Ford Seymour’s suicide when she was only 12 years-old. Her father was the late Oscar-winner Henry Fonda, who died in 1982.
“I’m not addictive, but I thought I was going to die from drugs and loneliness,” Fonda continued. “So the fact that I’m almost 88 is astonishing to me. I wouldn’t go back for anything. I feel more centered, more whole, more complete. I’m very happy, single.”
Indeed, Fonda is set to celebrate her 88th birthday next month on December 21. Later in this interview, Fonda claimed that she’s “never” been afraid of getting older.
“More importantly, I’m not afraid of dying,” Fonda explained. “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.”
Fonda’s Biggest Fear
Fonda went on to reveal her biggest fear.
“I’m afraid of dying with a lot of regrets. I watched my dad die with a lot of regrets,” she lamented. “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.”
“I also want to be surrounded by people who love me,” Fonda added. “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.”
The entire theme of this podcast episode was aging, specifically for women. Fonda took the opportunity to give Obama, 61, some tips on aging.
“I think that old age is fantastic if it’s lived intentionally,” Fonda gushed. “Intentionality is the key. Really thinking about it.”
“I’m controversial, and I’m an activist, and I’ve been very unpopular,” she confessed. “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 hireable. It encourages the young ones to not be so afraid.”
To say you’ve “been very unpopular” might just be the understatement of the century, Hanoi Jane!
Fonda Refuses To Retire
Despite closing in on 90, Fonda has no plans to retire anytime soon. She made that clear earlier this year when she accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards back in February.
“Your enthusiasm makes this seem like a twilight of my life and more like a, ‘Go girl, kick [expletive]!’ Which is good because I’m not done,” she said at the time. “I have had a really weird career — totally, not as my agents there at that table will tell you, totally un-strategic.”
“I retired for a few years and then I came back at 65, which is not usual,” Fonda concluded. “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.”
Given how radically and ignorantly liberal both Fonda and Obama are, it’s no surprise that they’re two peas in a pod. To them both, all we can say is good riddance!