Jane Fonda used to live "like a double image" in order to "fit in".
The 81-year-old actress has admitted she spent most of her life living two lives, because she didn’t want anyone to see "who [she] really was", as she thought it would make people – especially potential partners – wary of her.
She said: "For the bulk of my life, I would say up until my seventies, I spent my life like a double image, like a double exposure. As an adolescent, in order to fit in, I made sure no one – especially boys or men – could see who I really was; that I could get really angry, that I could not be pretty, that I could be tough. I went through life not whole."
But since splitting from third husband Ted Turner in 2001, the ‘Grace and Frankie’ star says she no longer worries what other people think of her, and although she has been in romances since her last divorce, she isn’t focused on love any more because being with a man makes her "give up" herself.
She added: "When I left Ted, I could feel myself moving back into myself. That is the main thing about the third act as I’m living it. I am no longer a double image. I had several serious relationships after [Ted], but … I realise I can never overcome it. That when I’m with a man, I give up myself."
Jane – who has 51-year-old adopted daughter Mary Luana, 50-year-old daughter Vanessa with her first husband Roger Vadim, and 45-year-old son Troy with second spouse Tom Hayden – also opened up on her health battles, admitting she has had "a lot of cancer" throughout her life.
She said: "I’ve had a lot of cancer. I was a sun-worshipper. When I have a day off, I frequently go to my skin doctor and have things cut off me by a surgeon."
The ‘Barbarella’ actress also suffers from osteoporosis – which causes bones to become weak and brittle – but says she manages with the condition because she can just "get a new" bone when she needs one.
Speaking to British Vogue’s May issue, Jane – who has previously had both hip and knee replacements – said: "The fact that I hurt a lot – my body hurts – is a surprise to me, and it’s not because of all that working out. It’s genetic. My father had it, my brother had it. Your cartilage disappears and then it’s bone on bone, and then ‘Ow.’ But we live in a time where you can just get a new one."
Jane Fonda lived double life to fit in
