As she has done throughout her life, Jane Fonda used the Golden Globes platform by accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award to speak out on deeper issues, calling for greater diversity in Hollywood and praising the “storytelling community.”
Dressed in a white two-piece suit, Fonda lifted the trophy over her head Sunday before praising the filmmakers for their vital role in tough times. She said that the stories allow us “to have empathy, to recognize that for all our diversity we are all human.”
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“We are a community of storytellers, right? And in turbulent times like these, torn apart by crisis, storytelling has always been essential,” said Fonda.
The 83-year-old actress and activist called on Hollywood leaders to try to “expand that tent” for more diverse voices.
Fonda said that there is another “story that we have been afraid to see and hear from ourselves in this industry, about which voices we respect and elevate and which we disconnect, who is offered a seat at the table and who is left out of the rooms where they are held, they make the decisions”.
Her acceptance speech garnered applause from Viola Davis, Glenn Close, and Andra Day, who won the Globe for best actress in a drama film for her role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”.
Fonda was one of the few honorees to accept the award in person at the ceremony in Beverly Hills, California.
In a pre-recorded video, Ted Danson called her “confident and independent” and “Captain Marvel” actress Brie Larson referred to her as a “real-life superhero.” Kerry Washington and Laverne Cox also paid tribute with a video showing Fonda in her activist role as well as some of her acclaimed roles, such as “Klute”, “Coming Home”, and” The Electric Horseman”.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler presented her with the lifetime achievement award. Fey, who starred with Fonda in the 2014 film “This is Where I Leave You”, called her a “open, generous and hardworking” movie star.
The Cecil B. DeMille Award is awarded annually to an “individual who has made a significant impact on the world of entertainment.”
Previous honorees include Tom Hanks, Jeff Bridges, Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, Barbra Streisand, Sidney Poitier and Lucille Ball.
Fonda is a member of one of America’s most distinguished actor families. She is the daughter of Oscar winner Henry Fonda, who died in 1982, and sister of Peter Fonda, who passed away in 2019.
“He would have been very proud of me,” she said backstage. “I feel like he’s here. I feel his spirit ”.
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Fonda made an off-screen impact by creating organizations to support women’s equality, prevent teen pregnancy, and improve teen health. She also released an exercise video in 1982 and was active in liberal political causes.
The 83-year-old Fonda has been nominated for five Oscars and won two, for the thriller “Klute” and the compassionate antiwar drama “Coming Home.” His other prominent films include “The China Syndrome”, “The Electric Horseman” with Robert Redford, and “9 to 5” (“How to Eliminate Your Boss ”) With Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. She is currently starring in the Netflix series “Grace & Frankie.”
Fonda rose to prominence in the 1970s when she traveled to northern Vietnam during the height of protests against the Vietnam War and posed next to an anti-aircraft gun. She was harshly criticized for her decision to take that photo, for which she was nicknamed “Hanoi Jane,” and repeatedly apologized for her actions.
In 2014, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute (AFI). She launched the IndieCollect’s Jane Fonda Fund for Women Directors, an organization aimed at supporting the restoration of films directed by women from around the world.
In 2019, she was arrested in the U.S. Capitol while peacefully demonstrating on climate change, in a series of protests called Fire Drill Fridays.
By her 80th birthday, she raised a million dollars for each of her foundations, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential and the Women’s Media Center. She is also on the board of directors and made a one-million-dollar donation to Donor Direct Action, a group that supports women’s organizations at the forefront to promote equality.
Her book “What Can I Do? My Path from Climate Despair to Action”, published last year, details her personal journey on Fire Drill Fridays.