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CNN Larry King Live
Interview With Jane Fonda
Aired May 09, 2007 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: Oh, I missed you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Tonight, Jane Fonda. Last time she was here, she said she was looking for that special someone and she didn't hold back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Did you ever have low points in your sex life.
FONDA: Oh, yes. There's been a six-year drought.
KING: Why?
FONDA: Because. I haven't met anybody I wanted to break the fast with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Well, guess what? There's an exciting reason one of the most beautiful women has a special glow. I'm in love with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: And I'm in love with him.
DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: In love with him?
FONDA: Good news for women -- it gets better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: More about that and a lot of other things and hot topics including this movie superstar's thoughts on Lindsay Lohan, who co- stars in her terrific new movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSAY LOHAN, ACTRESS: My mother dumped me 20 miles out and I had to walk the whole way.
FONDA: We eat at 6:00, no exceptions. You will have to wait for breakfast. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The legend and my friend. The one and only Jane Fonda is next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: Nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: On LARRY KING LIVE.
She is in New York, sadly. We are in Los Angeles. The two-time Oscar winning actress, the activist, "New York Times" bestselling author and her new film which opens Friday "Georgia Rule." It also stars Lindsay Lohan and Felicity Huffman.
I saw it earlier today. It is a terrific movie directed by Garry Marshall. It will touch you in many ways. See "Georgia Rule." We will get to that in a while. Before we get to the movie, Jane was kind enough to surprise me on my 50th anniversary toast last week. We will take a look at Miss Fonda's toast. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: Hey, Larry ...
KING: Say hello.
FONDA: I thought I would just stop by and say -- 50 years! You got to be kidding? You have been in this for 50 years? He doesn't look a day over 50, right?
No, you have always been a really good friend, Larry. You're one of my favorite people to have as a guest at my ranch. For those of you watching at home, you haven't lived until you have seen Larry on a horse. Larry on a horse. Larry on a horse.
It's a little bit like George W. Bush in a flight suit. It's just wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Thank you so much for doing that, Jane. It was great having you.
FONDA: It was my pleasure and my honor, my dear friend, Larry.
KING: And you have a terrific movie. We are going to talk about it in a while. But you should be congratulated. You're back on the scene, Jane. This is award time again.
FONDA: I'm proud of the movie.
KING: You look more fabulous than ever and we think you know why. Last night on Letterman you made an announcement. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: I was doing a book signing and I looked up and I saw this man walking towards me and I said, wow, you look like a movie star and he gave my his card and I lost the card. So on your show, I said "If you're watching, if you're watching call my office" and he did. And I'm in love with him.
LETTERMAN: In love with him? Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: OK, Jane. Who is he?
FONDA: Never you mind. Very different ...
KING: Why is it a secret?
FONDA: Why not? It's not a name that you would know. Just the women that have preceded me will appreciate it and they will know why I'm in love with him. But, no, this is very different for me.
Like a lot of women, all of my life, I never felt that I could kind of hold my own space. I always thought I had to be with an alpha male that, you know, that would sort of validate me. I could never be validated on my own.
And I outgrew that. It took me a long time. Into my 60s. But I don't need a man to validate me anymore. I could be with just a really nice guy who is capable of showing up and loving me and that feels really good.
KING: So you had to accomplish that before being able to connect with him?
FONDA: I think so. I think so, yeah. I had to go through -- I worked hard at it. I knew what was missing.
I knew the changes I had to go through to not be afraid of real intimacy. You can have sex. You can be married even for a long time. But not necessarily be in a relationship where you're both really showing up for each other.
And I think some of us who never experienced intimacy early on in life with our parents were scared of it. It represents danger. And so along the way, if we meet somebody that's really capable of intimacy, we will flee.
And I think I might have fled from a lot of possibilities of intimacy before. But I'm over that now, and I'm real happy.
It's, as I said on Dave's show last night, it's a nice thing for me to be able to feel this when I will be 70 in December, and, you know, the wisdom is that after a certain age, you can't have a really fulsome sexy, loving relationship. And hey, I'm here to prove that's not true. It just can get better.
KING: You met at a book signing?
FONDA: Yeah. He was married, oddly enough, to my high school roommate. Although I never knew him then. But the first time I met him was at a book signing, that's right.
KING: And then you lost a card and he saw you and had to follow up and called you?
FONDA: Right, yes.
KING: Did it click right from the start?
FONDA: No, no, it didn't.
KING: But it obviously -- are you going to get married?
FONDA: No. At my age, why? You know. We don't even need to live together.
KING: You're not going to live together?
FONDA: No. I mean I don't know, who knows? I don't think so.
KING: You told me, I think, a psychic told you, that you would meet your soul mate this year.
FONDA: Yep, that's true.
KING: Is this it?
FONDA: I think so.
KING: Without -- because I'm not going to believe, what does he do for a living?
FONDA: He's retired. He comes from the business world. He's a creative person actually who is launching a new creative project that's kind of exciting.
KING: In the show business ...
FONDA: Unlike some of my other husbands who will remain nameless, he doesn't suck up all of the oxygen in the room, you know what I mean?
KING: How has your friend Ted Turner taken the news?
FONDA: Well, I was just with Ted and his -- one of his many women, he calls them the coalition of the willing, and he asked to see a picture of my lover. So I showed him. And he was not so happy, but, actually, you know something, Ted is a real gentleman and he's happy for me. He's a little sad but we are very good friends. We've remained friends.
But I am not sure this has ever happened to him where someone has moved on, you know.
KING: What about the man and his interest in you? How new is a Jane Fonda-type for him?
FONDA: Part of it is new. I think it can be very intimidating to a lot of men to be in love with a woman like me.
KING: Sure.
FONDA: And oddly enough, he's -- he's not intimidated. He's proud of me. He supports me. He's alongside me. And that feels really good.
KING: In other words, he's not Mr. Fonda?
FONDA: Not in my mind or his mind, no. Whatever the press does, that's what the press does. But in terms of what's real, no. He's not Mr. Fonda.
KING: Lots more to talk about with Jane when we come back, including behind-the-scenes goings on with her co-stars Lindsay Lohan and Felicity Huffman in this terrific film "Georgia Rule." As we go to break, a very abbreviated look at high points from an extraordinary career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: I'm sorry, I'm not very objective.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, are you an actress?
FONDA: I've done four atmosphere (ph) bits since I've been here.
Bill, I married Bill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Bill, hey! I'm glad, Chelsea, that's San Frantastic.
FONDA: Was that a kiss? Because, boy, if that's what kisses are going to be like from now on, don't bother to come back at 5:30.
So that's the way it's going to be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of here.
FONDA: No!
FELICITY HUFFMAN, ACTRESS: Thank you for taking her. I hope it does her some good.
FONDA: Does it do you any good?
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: No fighting!
LOHAN: Get him off of me. I didn't start it, he did it!
FONDA: That's it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get it yourself!
FONDA: You had ample warning about the Lord's name.
LOHAN: She's great in this movie. And from - how - everything I have worked with her on, she's so complementary.
FONDA: In your mouth.
LOHAN: What?
FONDA: In your mouth.
LOHAN: No, give it to someone else. Guys want some soap? Giving out free soap. Bye.
FONDA: Oh, she was raised in California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ah!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: She's the Georgia in "Georgia Rule." She's Jane Fonda. Her granddaughter is Lindsay Lohan, her daughter is Felicity Huffman. All three are terrific in this wolf movie all set on a small homestead in Idaho.
All right. What was the film like for you to do, in your long career, what was this like to work at?
FONDA: It was really - it was really fun. For one reason, the script was great. It's unusual that you get a film with three fascinating, complicated, well realized women. In a kind of a universal situation.
There are certain flavors of "On Golden Pond" in the sense it's both intense and deep and it is also funny, there's a lot of humor in it. Where as in "On Golden Pond" you want to connect with your dad. In "Georgia Rule," you come out wanting to connect with your mom.
It had a lot of resonance for me. But it was Garry Marshall. You know Garry. Garry is a mensch. Garry -- He sprinkles a little magic dust over the set and everybody is supposed to get along and everybody does. And it was just fun. It was a fun movie to do, in spite of the intensity.
KING: All right. How about working with Felicity Huffman?
FONDA: She's brilliant. She's brave. She's a trooper. There's no ego. She doesn't know from diva. She just shows up and goes wherever the scene requires her to go in the most brave way. I'm crazy about her.
KING: Kind of role you would have taken 25 years ago, right?
FONDA: Yeah, yeah, I think of these things now and then. I've never played a grandma before. I carried a picture of Barbarella in my hip pocket.
KING: Speaking of that, a role you might have taken 50 years ago is your granddaughter Lindsay Lohan. What was it like working with her?
FONDA: She breaks my heart.
KING: Meaning?
FONDA: Meaning, her talent runs so deep. She has an ability to access her emotions and what I can only surmise has been a really difficult, complicated life and she can bring it up and use it in a role like this. I think she will blow people away. She blew me away while we were working. I have seen the movie twice now and I feel like I have been kicked in stomach by a horse by her performance. It just blows me away. And she's a good girl.
KING: I want to ask you about that. Let's see a clip of you and her in "Georgia Rule." watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: I'm glad you're here, Rachael.
LOHAN: So, do you guys have anything better around here than Harlan Wilson? Hmm?
FONDA: Keep your dress on. I got you a job.
LOHAN: A what?
FONDA: Starts Monday. Just a brisk walk from here. I'll wake you at 7:00.
LOHAN: I'm not working.
FONDA: One more rule. You live here, you work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Georgia makes the rules, by the way. Lindsay Lohan came in for some negative publicity. She was in fact criticized by the CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, James Robinson, who produced the movie, chiding her for lateness and partying and immaturity. What's your read on Lindsay? FONDA: She turned 20 on this movie. Lest we forget, this is a very young person who has had a very difficult life, who has been famous since she was 12 and being famous now is not like when I was young. The scrutiny, the paparazzi, the every move you make, it's -- she's in a really difficult situation and she handles it, I think she handles it really well.
I don't know about her private life. All I know is that when she showed up for work, she was totally brilliant and for most of the time when I was working with her, she was on time. There was one or two days she was late. I got mad at her. I went into her trailer and told her to get her ass on the set and she said to her makeup person, Barbarella just yelled at me. She has got a sense of humor.
KING: Did she ever ask your advice on anything?
FONDA: No, no she didn't. And you don't give it if it's not asked for. But she knows because I have told her on several occasions that if she ever needs me, I'm there for her. And I would hope that she does need me.
Because I think that I can say things to her that -- that need to be said. One of them is, it's so important that young people understand that you're never number one forever. This is not going to last. And you have to have other things in your life besides celebrity. Or you're just going to end up lonely and unhappy.
So she has to begin to build the foundation of a life that's got stuff in it, not just celebrity. And also this isn't a dress rehearsal. This is it, man. This is real life. And if you blow it, you don't always have a second chance. And mostly what I want to do is wrap my arms around her and take her away for about 20 years and teach her how to garden or something.
KING: Our guest is Jane Fonda. The film is "Georgia Rule." So much to talk about when we come back, celebrity divorces, cosmetic surgery. As we go to break, more of Jane and Lindsay at work in "Georgia Rule."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOHAN: Can I just tell you what's really going on, just so we don't get lost in what this really is.
FONDA: I would like to know.
LOHAN: My mother and stepfather don't like my life. Maybe because I have one, who knows?
Anyway, I was stupid enough to graduate high school in January. And then I got into trouble a few times while I was waiting to go to college in the fall so they had to get rid of me. Banished for the summer in Idaho. Locked up with the one person on this earth my mother can't jerk around.
That's why I'm here. Try and jerk me around, grandma. No good night kiss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you get a name like Twist.
FONDA: Kitty Twist.
Congratulations, I'm so pleased that you're going to be my daughter-in-law!
You saved my life!
Close that door, or I'll shoot!
It's very scary for me. To think that maybe it's not going to work out with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
FONDA: I'm sure you will find this amusing, but I'm afraid of the dark.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: By the way, a collection of clips from the greatest interviews on LARRY KING LIVE is now available on DVD. It's really extraordinarily put together with a lot of things you have never seen before, including my own personal observations about many of the guests. One of whom was Jane Fonda.
If you want more information or want to order it, go to kingoftalkdvd.com, kingoftalkdvd.com for the greatest interviews, LARRY KING LIVE. And by the way, debated one-day belated happy birthday to my friend Don Rickles, now 81 years young.
Jane Fonda is with us. Her film is "Georgia Rule." You were talking about young people. When you see a thing like Paris Hilton, getting 45 days in jail, suspended license, drunk driving is that turn around able? Can you help that?
FONDA: I'm glad she's being sentenced. I'm glad she is going to do the time. If she were black, if she were poor, she would have done it much sooner. Maybe the first time that she had an offense. I believe these young people have to, you know, have to -- have to learn their lessons.
You pay for irresponsibility. Can we turn them around? Well, we can be better parents. Kids need structure. Kids need a good foundation and values. I was lucky, my dad, I had a bit of a dysfunctional family myself, but my dad, who he came from a place like the town in "Georgia Rule," he came from Nebraska. He came from Omaha. And whatever else went on, he was married five times, but he had values and he passed them on and my brother and I admired him and we wanted to please him and wanted to do what we knew he expected of us.
And if you don't have that in your life as a young person, it's really tough. And especially if you're rich and spoiled and you are made into a celebrity. Somebody is going to give you your comeuppance and hopefully these young people are smart enough to learn from it. Again, this is not a dress rehearsal. This is it.
KING: What do you do with C-Cap (ph) in Georgia? Don't you work with young girls?
FONDA: GCAP, yes. And boys. Girls and boys. We have been around 12 1/2 years now. And what we learned is if you want young people to not engage in risky behavior, you have to give them hope. Hope is the best contraceptive. They have to see a future for themselves that will be compromised by risky behavior, whether it's getting pregnant, having babies too soon, drugs, whatever.
And so we do programs that give them hope in the future. We kind of wrap our arms around them and show them that there's health care in the future, that there's a bank account in their future, that there's jobs, that there's self-expression. Things like that.
KING: But I know we've discussed this regarding your family, your mom, obvious, and the like. Did you ever suffer from depression?
FONDA: Yes. Yes, I have. Yes. But nothing like my mother was bipolar. And I think kind of little dustings of it crossed my way. But I just feel my life has been so blessed. I would be crazy if I didn't see how lucky I am and I have worked hard.
You know, luck is opportunity meeting preparation and I had a lot of opportunity and I prepared to take advantage of the opportunity.
KING: For a long time you told me you would never act again. Then you did "Monster in Law" and now "Georgia Rule." Are you back?
FONDA: I'm back. I realized I was back when I did "Monster in Law." I really had a good time. I left a long time ago, 17 years now, because I didn't join it anymore.
Artists have a brush and paint and a canvas or clay or a violin if you're a musician. Artists, this is our instrument. And if you're not happy with yourself, if you're shut down, it's very hard to be creative and I was shut down and I didn't enjoy it anymore. Then I married Ted and I didn't need to work.
And when I was -- when Ted and I split up and I was writing my memoirs, I realized, wow, I'm a very different person was when I quit the business. Maybe I can find joy in it again. And "Monster in Law" came along and I had such a good time. I got to shove J-Lo's face in a cake.
And so this other movie came along where I get to shove soap in Lindsay's mouth. Hey, it's a good gig. What do you want?
KING: Would you rank "Georgia Rule" among one of your better roles ever?
FONDA: I think so, yes. I'm really proud of this movie. It's a very different kind of movie. There are similarities to "On Golden Pond" in a way, only now I'm the grandparent. But it speaks to universal issues and I'm proud about.
KING: Sure does.
We will be back with more of Jane Fonda on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE. Much more to cover, like how her name has a whole new meaning these days to some young people when we talk about sex. As we go to break, Jane in "Monster in Law."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe you should go check on your mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, she's fine. She's probably calling all of our relatives.
FONDA: Oh, Holy Spirit, surround me with light. Please rid me of my negative karma and my wickedness. Please help me be a better person.
Oh! I can just kill that dog-walking slut!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We back with Jane Fonda, the star of "Georgia Rule." Are you aware -- I know you said you want to do a film project where older people are perceived as erotic and sexy. Do you know there's a raunchy song by Mickey Avalon called "Jane Fonda" in which that "doing the Jane Fonda" is now slang for a sexual workout. Have you heard this, seen it?
FONDA: I danced to it last night with Lindsay at the China Club. I didn't know it referred to a sexual act. I just thought it meant working out.
KING: Was it fun?
FONDA: But it is fine with me either way. Huh? Was it fun dancing with Lindsay? Yes.
KING: Yes. Did you like the song?
FONDA: All I could hear was "do the Jane Fonda." I didn't hear all of the subtleties because I was busy dancing. But I intend to buy it and listen.
KING: How many workout tapes did you do? FONDA: Twenty-three.
KING: Twenty-three. They all sold big, right?
FONDA: They all sold big. The first one is still the biggest selling of all time. I sold 17 million of the first one.
KING: Let's see a little clip of one of those...
FONDA: Oh my God.
KING: ... and a question about workouts. Let's watch Jane Fonda working out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: That's right. Smooth now, get down, reverse.
(INAUDIBLE). I'm having a wonderful time. I've stopped smoking. I'm eating great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Still do that?
FONDA: I could. I got a new hip, so I can do just about everything. But I don't do these anymore.
KING: Because?
FONDA: Well, because I tend to be outside more. I hike. I bike. I do yoga. I do different things.
KING: We have an e-mail for you in Barbara in Brea, California. It says: "When I see you lately, you appear as if you still struggle with an eating disorder. Does bulimia ever really go away?"
FONDA: Yes, good news, it does. It really does. I have not struggled with an eating disorder for 30-some years.
KING: All right. How did you lick it?
FONDA: Well, I just -- I kind of went cold turkey. A point came in my life where I knew that I had to move to the light or go into the darkness. And I had a good life. And I -- a lot of people depended on me and I knew I couldn't do my life if I continued with my addiction. So I went cold turkey. Now I would go to a 12-step program probably. Go into rehab.
But I did lick it. And it's a tough one. It's a tough one to lick. And it's just great to be able to sit down and enjoy a meal like a normal person. You don't try to be perfect anymore. You realize that good enough is good enough.
KING: You have admitted to having plastic surgery in the past. Yet you recently said you're disturbed by the number of people having it and that everybody is starting to look alike. You don't want it both ways here, do you?
FONDA: Well, I would like it both ways. We all would.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Yes, me, too.
FONDA: Yes. You know, in certain parts of the United States, especially when there are enclaves of a lot of rich people, you find that there has been so much work done on a face, injections and I don't even know all that goes on, that everybody does tend to look alike.
And even when I was in my early 40s, I remember I said, I want to give a cultural face to aging women. And now I'm aging. I'm well into my third act. And I want to try to resist and it's hard. It's hard. I mean, I played a grandmother in "Georgia Rule," and it was hard seeing the wrinkles and the lines, but that's what life does and I want to try to own them and be brave about it. But I also want to be sexy.
KING: Yes, oh, yes, don't worry on that count. You -- what has happened to privacy in America? You look at Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff and open displays of terrible things going on that we all get to see.
FONDA: Well, if you're famous, you have got to behave yourself. If you're famous you have got to -- there's even more -- the pressure on you and responsibility to try to be a good role model and to do good things. And if you don't, you have got to pay the consequences.
But it is true that there's less privacy now than when there was when I was coming up. Every single thing that a famous person does now is scrutinized. And it's scary but it's just more responsibility for people to behave themselves. I sound like Georgia now in "Georgia Rule."
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Give me a piece of soap and we will be right back. "Georgia Rule," soap is a big part of this movie. Jane Fonda is the guest. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE LATE SHOW")
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW": This is beautiful. This is quite lovely.
FONDA: Thank you. Thank you.
LETTERMAN: Gosh, that's nice.
FONDA: It was designed by Linda Loudermilk, she makes eco- friendly clothes. The top is made of milk and pants are made of hemp. (LAUGHTER)
FONDA: So you can drink my top and smoke my bottom.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: Good night, everybody!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Ah, Jane. Ah, Jane.
FONDA: Yes, Larry.
KING: You will never be old, Jane. All right. "Georgia Rule" is very much about mothers and daughters. Did it cause you, when making it, to reflect on your own relationship with your mother?
FONDA: With my mother, with my daughter, with my grandchildren, yes. I think it does that to everybody that sees the movie. In fact, you know, we had a premiere last night in New York and at the party afterwards, that's what everybody was talking about, how it made them think about their own relationships.
KING: Have you cleared up in your mind the relationship with your mother? Because in the past you have been both critical of her and loving toward her.
FONDA: Yes, it's appropriate to both with your parents no matter what, but you know, I had a particularly complicated relationship with my mother because she killed herself when I was 12. She was bipolar and while I was writing my memoirs, I obtained her medical records from the institution that she was in when she killed herself.
And they had asked her upon admittance to write her life story. And it was a real blessing for me to be able to read what she wrote about her life. And in that history, I learned that she had been sexually abused when she was a young girl.
And interestingly enough, I had been studying the effects of sexual abuse on girls for 10 years prior to that. I didn't know why I wanted to do this. So when I read those words, I knew everything that I needed to know about why my mother was the way she was.
And I felt so sad for her, and I felt so lucky that I was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and totally forgive her. And forgiveness is when healing begins.
KING: How much did your relationship with Henry Fonda, your father, and one of the great actors ever, affect your relationships with men in your life?
FONDA: Very much so. I always felt that I -- in order to have my father's love, I had to be perfect. And I desperately wanted his love because he was such a fantastic man and I wanted him to love me. And so I learned how to turn myself into a pretzel to be what he wanted me to be.
And of course, the fact is, you don't have to be perfect to be loved. But I didn't know that until I got much older. But I went through a lot of relationships where I was only bringing to the table that which I thought was lovable and perfect and kind of leaving the rest of me out on the sidewalk.
But you can't really have a relationship if you're doing that. And so it took me a long time to realize my father did he best he could but he did not love me unconditionally.
KING: He did not?
FONDA: No, no.
KING: He told me once...
FONDA: Probably because he had not been loved unconditionally. I don't know. But...
KING: In an interview, he told me once he thought he had basically failed as a father.
FONDA: I'm sorry that he thought that. He didn't. He didn't. He passed on his incredible values and his integrity. He gave me so much. I feel his presence every day in my life, I miss him so much. And a lot of people who saw "On Golden Pond" (sic) feel that I was kind of like channeling him, because there's a lot about Georgia that reminds me of my father.
My father came from Omaha and he had a lot of values and he had rules and it was a privilege for me to play a character that kind of had those sort of values and rules, and this one had a lot.
KING: Do you think he may have had depression, too?
FONDA: I think so. Absolutely. Undiagnosed depression. You know, even today men aren't supposed to be depressed. Men don't do that. And so they do other things. You know, like they work too hard or they have sex too much or they drink or they do drugs or they gamble.
And, you know, it is -- I hope that we can get to a place in our civilization and our point of society where we can let men know that it's OK to know their feelings and to own their feelings and to be depressed or, you know, to own their heart and not have this bifurcation between head and heart.
And you know, that's the dichotomy. Women have to own their strengths and men have to own their hearts. We have to teach our boys, it's OK to cry. And we have to teach our girls that it's OK to be strong. And dad kind of missed out on that.
But he got a lot of other things, too. You know, I -- when I was writing my memoirs, I had an amazing conversation with one of Martin Luther King's daughters, Yolanda. She called me up about something. And I said to her, did your dad ever sit you down on his knee and tell you, you know, about values and how to do life?
And she said, no, he never did. And I said, yes, my father never did either. But you know what, you had your dad's sermons, I had my dad's films, "Grapes of Wrath," "12 Angry Men," "Young Abe Lincoln," "The Wrong Man," "Oxbow Incident." These were the things that taught me the values that are important in life.
You know, not every parent can do it the traditional way. They can't all be perfect parents but they have different ways of transmitting what we need to know as children. And I'm so grateful that I have had his films.
KING: The film is "Georgia Rule," the stars are Felicity Huffman, Lindsay Lohan, and the brilliant Jane Fonda.
Right now let's check in with Anderson Cooper, the host of "AC 360." What's up, tonight, Anderson?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Larry, a fascinating program. Tonight we saw a remarkable piece of video covering the wildfire threatening Los Angeles. Half a dozen firefighters trapped by a wall of flames under a bridge. This is the video. They battled their way out. Tonight one of them joins us to talk about the courageous battle against the flames.
Just one of many stories tonight as people from one end of the country are dealing with wildfires, flooding, and other extreme weather. Also tonight, God and politics and where the Mormon church fits in. All that and more, Larry, at the top of the hour.
KING: That's "ANDERSON COOPER" coming up at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific.
Coming up next, the joys of working "Nine to Five" and whether Jane might be punching a time clock again soon. As we go to break, Jane and her father Henry from that classic film "On Golden Pond."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP "ON GOLDEN POND")
FONDA: I think that maybe you and I should have the kind of relationship that we are supposed to have.
HENRY FONDA, ACTOR: What kind of relationship is that?
FONDA: Well, you know, like a father and a daughter.
HENRY FONDA: Just in the nick of time, huh? Worried about the will, are you? Well, I'm leaving everything to you except what I'm talking with me.
FONDA: Just stop. I don't want anything. It just -- it seems that you and me have been mad at each other for so long.
HENRY FONDA: I didn't think we were mad. I thought we just didn't like each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "NINE TO FIVE")
FONDA: You're not leaving this office.
DABNEY COLEMAN, ACTOR: Watch me. You know, I was just pretending a while ago, but this thing is getting out of hand and nobody makes a fool out of me in my own office. I'm calling the police.
FONDA: Hold it right there.
COLEMAN: My gosh, you're as crazy as the other two.
FONDA: Close that door, or I'll shoot.
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
KING: We have an e-mail question from Jan in Lakewood, Colorado: "Would you do a sequel to 'Nine to Five'?"
FONDA: You bet. But FOX owns it and they don't seem to want us to do it. I don't know. We have let them know we want to do -- me and Dolly and Lily, we all want to do it, but it hasn't happened yet.
KING: You would think in an era of sequels, in fact the whole summer this year is equals, they would have done that.
FONDA: You would think so. It would have to be different. Because "Nine to Five" exposed the problems that were true then and it has kind of changed now. So you would have to really know what women office workers are facing today, which is different.
KING: Yes.
FONDA: Let's just hope FOX puts the time in to really find out and doesn't just do something that's just funny. The great thing about "Nine to Five" is that it actually talked about things that were really true. And it was like an anthem to the movement of women office workers.
KING: And it holds up.
FONDA: Yes, it does.
KING: Was "Coming Home" a pivotal film for you?
FONDA: Yes, it was. It was the first time that I was integral to the production. The idea came to me when I was at an anti-war rally with Ron Kovic. Ron Kovic, who was paralyzed from the waist down. And he was speaking to a group of students in California. And he said, I made have lost my body, but I gained my mind. Because he had come to understand that the war was wrong and the soldiers with were being used.
And I thought, hmm. I was pregnant at the time so I was spending a lot of time in bed and I thought, I could make a movie about that. And we both -- me and Jon Voight won Oscars for it. I'm really proud of it. And it was voted by -- the V.A. did a poll, it was voted as the film that veterans thought reflected them the most accurately and the best. Feel proud of that, too.
KING: Do you see parallels between Vietnam and Iraq?
FONDA: Oh, yes, I do. Got in based on lies. Scared to get out because our presidents are afraid it will make them look unmanly, I guess, even though they know -- at least I hope this one knows. All of the others during the Vietnam War knew, if you read the Pentagon Papers, that we couldn't win but they were scared of pulling out, you know, "premature evacuation" and all of that.
We can't win this. We couldn't win the Vietnam War. It was the wrong war. You don't go to war for lies. And, you know, a difference is that now it's just poor kids that are going over there and dying and are less well-equipped and less armored than they were during the Vietnam War.
It's a tragedy. It's just -- I don't think anything has hurt this country as much as what President Bush has done to us.
KING: We will be back with our remaining moments with Jane Fonda. She stars in "Georgia Rule" opening Friday. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
FONDA: You're watching me.
ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: You stand out.
FONDA: That didn't make you my father.
Ain't that a pretty picture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We are back with Jane Fonda, the star of "Georgia Rule." Are you supporting any of the Democrats running in the primary?
FONDA: Yes, all of them.
KING: All of them. What does that mean? FONDA: It means, I think we have three very interesting candidates, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, exciting candidates.
KING: So any one of the three would suit you?
FONDA: So far.
KING: Any Republican appeal to you?
FONDA: Larry, if I voted Republican, my father would strike me dead. He was a quintessential yellow dog Democrat. I would vote for a Republican, actually, some of my best friends are Republican, I have just never met one that I wanted to vote for yet.
KING: Yet your father remained great friends with Jimmy Stewart, who never voted Democrat.
FONDA: That's right.
KING: It was a great friendship...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: ... back to New York.
FONDA: Friendship can transcend politics, thank God.
KING: You're not kidding. Tell me, is your -- if I may ask, boyfriend a Democrat?
FONDA: We share values. I don't know what his party affiliation is. But we have common values, I will tell you that.
KING: So you would gather that he would support your general thinking in the political area?
FONDA: Mm-hmm, yes.
KING: Do you regret -- in fact, wait a minute. We have got an e-mail here that's a good question. It's from Oscar in Bay Point, California: "After all of these years, is there anything you regret? Anything you would do differently? Anything you wish you did and had done?"
FONDA: Yes, sure. I wish that I had been a better parent to my daughter. I wish I had been more present for her.
And I wish that I hadn't had a terrible 10-second lapse of judgment and sat on that anti-aircraft gun in North Vietnam that sent a signal that was totally not reality, because I have always supported American troops. I did then and I do now. And that was -- that was something that I deeply regret and have apologized for over the years many times.
KING: Any role you turned down, you are sorry? FONDA: No.
KING: Any role you did, you're sorry?
(LAUGHTER)
FONDA: Yes. Yes, but I can't remember what they are. You know, regrets, you know, you can waste a lot of time. You become -- at my age -- at our age, Larry, we become very conscious of time, right?
KING: You bet.
FONDA: So you don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about regrets. You want to about, what you have learned from your mistakes that you can carry into your future so that you can do the time that is left as positively and productively as possible.
KING: Another script you're looking at?
FONDA: Working on a few things. I would love to do another movie with Redford. It would be my fourth with him. It would be fun. Love him dearly.
KING: Would you do a -- would you do a play?
FONDA: I've read a bunch of plays. I have not read one that I thought was good enough. You know, I would rather do television than a play. If I'm going to do something, it's because I believe that it needs to be seen by a lot of people. And plays are kind of small. You want to get a wide audience for what it is you want to say.
KING: Jane, I thank you so much, as always. And again, congratulations. Great movie.
FONDA: It is great to see you, Larry. I'm glad you liked the movie.
KING: Thank you. And thanks for participating in my anniversary. The movie, Felicity Huffman, Lindsay Lohan, and the incredible Jane Fonda. The movie is "George Rule" and it opens Friday, as they say, wide.
Right now we turn things over to New York City and my man Anderson Cooper. He will host "AC 360."
Reminding you, tomorrow night we are going to take a look at weather havoc in the United States. Anderson may touch on that tonight -- Anderson.
COOPER: Absolutely, Larry. Thanks very much.
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