Over the years, Jane Fonda has cemented her reputation
as one of the most iconic actresses of all time… and rightly so.
"I act like a big person everywhere else… I'm in charge of Los Angeles."
Among her many illustrious awards, the Hollywood star has two Oscars, seven Golden Globes, and
one Emmy to her name. Although she landed her first role in her early twenties,
the legendary actress has continued to act well into her eighties, thanks in no small part to
projects like Netflix's Grace and Frankie. This acclaimed dramatic comedy was renewed in
2019 for a seventh and final season, making it the streaming service's longest-running original show.
Beyond her prolific body of work on-screen, Fonda also happens to
be an extremely passionate activist… and she's particularly passionate when it comes
to fighting against climate change. She's even set about getting arrested on a weekly basis,
a ritual that she likes to call Fire Drill Fridays… although it doesn't look like a
drill to us! The actress's spirited activism has clearly inspired other,
younger members of her family tree, like her granddaughter Viva Vadim. This young
woman has even followed in Fonda's illustrious footsteps by getting arrested during a protest.
Do you happen to see a family resemblance here? Well,
we certainly do! According to Closer Weekly, Jane Fonda has three children: Vanessa Vadim,
Troy Garity, and Mary Williams. Vanessa gave birth to Viva back in 2002.
In 2013, Viva accompanied Fonda to a glamorous 2013 red carpet event,
where the pair posed alongside comedian Jim Carrey. By the way, that event just
so happened to be Fonda's hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre. Clearly,
this was an extremely important and formative day for Fonda. Taking to her official website,
the actress mistily reflected on the experience, writing that
"It was special [...] because I had my family with me. [...] I am just getting to know [Jim
Carrey] but I have been a huge admirer of his forever as has my granddaughter, Viva. You
should have seen her face when she turned in her seat at the start of the ceremony and saw him."
One thing's for sure: Jane Fonda cares about her family
a great deal and she's incredibly supportive of her grandchildren.
In an illuminating April 2016 interview with The Guardian, the Nine to Five actress said,
"I love being a grandmother, though I live further away from my grandchildren now and don't see them
as much as I used to. What I hope for them is that they discover their passion, because the
most wonderful thing in life is finding out what you want to do. I want them to learn
that you don't always get your way in life, but that the important thing is not falling apart."
We imagine that Fonda is passing on that well-earned wisdom to her loved ones, too.
Although she's already fondly looking ahead to her grandkids' futures, the actress does feel a
bit of remorse when it comes to her own parental skills and familial relationships. In March 2017,
Fonda opened up to Net-a-Porter [and made quite a candid confession to the publication:
"I regret that I wasn't a better parent. I didn't know how to do it. But you can learn,
so I studied how to be a parent. It's never too late. I am trying to make up
for what I didn't know before. When I die, I want my family to be around me.
I want them to love me and I have to earn that. I'm still working at it."
A few years prior, Fonda reflected on just how many similarities she and her
daughter Vanessa Vadim share. In a 2013 post on her website, she wrote:
"My daughter is very much like me in many ways and very different in many ways. She's brave,
strong, exceedingly smart, cooks well [...], and is very creative. She's someone you'd want around
in a crisis. We haven't always gotten along. I am not, by nature, particularly maternal."
No matter what tough experiences she's endured in the past,
it sounds like Fonda has finally mended things with her children. And as a result,
it sounds like she's formed quite a sweet bond with her grandchildren, including Viva.
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