Discombobulated

Last night my friend, Elizabeth Sackler, the founder of the Feminist Art Museum in Brooklyn, saw the show and when she came backstage she found that I was getting sick. Today she brought chicken soup to the stage door for me while we were rehearsing. I am so touched that she would take time to do something so sweet and thoughtful. I am feeling better, by the way, and thanks to all the well wishing twitterers and bloggers.

I experienced something interesting today. We were doing a photo shoot of the play as well as video taping certain scenes. When it came my turn to do a scene for the camera I became quite discombobulated. I realized that, with the camera filming me, a whole, different acting mechanism began to kick in making me stumble like a novice. Do I do it like I would in a movie or like I’ve been doing? I felt like Dabney Coleman in “On Golden Pond” when he has one foot on the dock and one on the boat as the boat begins to move away. I mentioned this to Colin Hanks and Samantha Mathis, both of whom also do film work, and both said it happened to them, too.

It’s interesting when something like this happens, reminding you of how ingrained your instincts are –how context-driven.

See you next time

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13 Comments

  1. Dear Ms. Fonda,
    I was just thinking yesterday how I would like to ask you about film vs stage acting and here you are writing about it in today’s blog. If you find the time I’d love to read a more elaborate answer. Maybe I will send a question to Ask Jane, but before I do I want to see the play (hopefully this coming week).
    Will you continue blogging after you are done with the play? Kind regards.

  2. Dear Ms. Fonda,
    I was just thinking yesterday how I would like to ask you about film vs stage acting and here you are writing about it in today’s blog. If you find the time I’d love to read a more elaborate answer. Maybe I will send a question to Ask Jane, but before I do I want to see the play (hopefully this coming week).
    Will you continue blogging after you are done with the play? Best wishes.

  3. Ms. Fonda

    It is such a wonderful thing you are doing. Thank you for sharing your enormous talent with theatergoers. You are making for many memorable evenings in the theater.

  4. Dear Ms. Fonda,

    Thank you so much for bringing your gifts to the stage. You are making for many memorable nights in the theater. You are one of our greatest actresses and humanitarians. Bless you, and best wishes for a great run.

  5. Hi Jane,
    I guess some veterans were outside the theatre bashing you because they don’t have anything better to do. Maybe you did go over the top a little but you sincerely apologized. I never heard any of them apologize for the hundreds of thousands of people they senselessly killed in their own homes and country.

    Steve

  6. Thank you Ms Fonda for being so honest. It shines through in your writing. I believe we can only be honest with others when we’re totally honest with ourselves….and it can take us many years to feel comfortable enough in our own skin not to feel vulnerable at every turn. What a shame we “waste” all those earlier years feeling so unsure of ourselves.

  7. Glad to hear you’re feeling better. I’m also glad to hear other people use the word “discombobulated.” Haha!

    Kelsey

  8. I am from NZ and living in Muscat. I used to teach Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to my students in NZ. The article in the NY Times re the plight of the Congolese women is another instance of “the horror… the horror” (chillingly uttered by Kurtz/Marlon Brando in ‘Apocalypse Now’) . Living here – the dislocation – has opened my eyes to the reality of it.

    The incidences the article describes are contemporary horror – and relatively close! I am drawing it to the attention of as many people as I can. Thanks.

  9. Jane,
    Just read the Times article on you today. Might I suggest that you have not become a different person, but like many/maybe most of us, you are finally becoming more like yourself.
    Like Michaelangelo’s famous quote about The Statue of David”
    “The David was in the marble. I just chipped away everything that wasn’t.”
    Life chips away everything about us that isn’t us – if we’re lucky, and you are.
    A loyal fan of all your iterations.

  10. Jane, Welcome back to Broadway.
    Bill Ritter

  11. Jane, Welcome back to
    Broadway. Bill Ritter

  12. Dear Ms Fonda,

    Thank you for coming to Broadway, and sharing your incredible gifts with theatergoers. You are an American patriot, a gifted actress, and humanitarian. I hope you have a good run. I know audiences will love you and this remarkbale play.

  13. Well I was completely in the dark about your new play til I read the NY Times today and then I discovered your lovely blog. I’m pleased to say that I’m visiting NYC (from Toronto) Mar 6-8 and after reading everything I’ve just bought tickets for the Mar 7 matinee. Can’t wait to see this play and you in it. It’ll be a real treat.

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