PRE-OSCAR PARTY AT CHATEAU MARMONT

Last night Richard and I went to a party co-hosted by Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger. Lots of friends were there, including my brother, and it was fun. I just couldn’t take pictures of everyone…Geoffrey Rush, Eddie Olmos, Bobby Carradine (was in “Coming Home” with me), Renee Zellweger, Geena Davis, and a host of others. I walked up to Mick Jagger and reminded him that the last time we saw each other was in the house outside Rome on the Appia Antica, that my then husband, French director, Roger Vadim and I lived in during the filming of “Barbarella.” Mick and Keith Richards were around because Keith’s girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg, played the Black Queen, in Barbarella.

I had an opportunity to tell Jennifer how incredible I thought she was in the film she did several years ago with her husband, Mark Anthony, “El cantante.” I missed it when it came out but Richard and I watched it the other night. She is as fine as I’ve ever seen her. Her considerable acting talent in full force as a tough, sexy (gorgeous) Puerto Rican woman , the partner of the Puerto Rican singing idol, Héctor Lavoe, played well by Mark Anthony. She blew my mind in the role. If I was still producing, I’d find a project for her with a role that allowed her to play this sort of character. Oh yes, and the subject of “American Idol” came up as well! 🙂 I think she is good in it.

I also got another chance to tell Michelle Williams, again, how fantastic she is as an actor. Always, but especially in Blue Valentine.

Tonight is the last preview before tomorrow’s opening. I am not nervous. More excited than anything. Cher is coming, and Lindsey Lohan, Colin Farrell, Angelica Huston, Chelsea Handler, Rosanna Arquette, Carla Gugino, Christian Slater, Peter Fonda, John Glover, Ben Vereen and many other friends and family.

Throw out a little “Break a Leg” for me. Thanks!

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43 Comments

  1. i love this picture Jennifer lopez with Jane Fonda

  2. Good luck Jane! Tell Cher we’re waiting for her to tour Europe later this year 😀

  3. Jane, I saw you in 33 Variations last year in NYC – you were terrific and you will be great in LA as well. A Fonda can always act. Best of luck. Break a leg. And how wonderful is the Chateau Marmont? I was there in June. Brian.

  4. Hi Ms. Fonda,
    Saw your play last week and truly enjoyed it! You continue to inspire me.
    Much love, Jennifer

  5. In french if you please i know you understand everything.
    J’ai revu “Coming Home” en DVD, très belle performance Jane. Voight était aussi excellent.
    Il y a plein de films que vous avez fait que j’ai adoré : “The Chase” “On a golden pond” etc…Je me souviens aussi d’un film en noir et blanc c’était à vos tous débuts, je crois qu’il y avait Laurence Harvey…
    Bien sûr j’ai lu vos mémoires.
    Bien à vous.

  6. Dear Jane,

    Yes, please do break a leg! Thank you for sharing your magical life with those whose existence is a little more mundane. I suppose you’d say the grass is always greener. Oh well. I’ve grown up with you and followed you all these years. Now your blog lets me vicariously experience doing a play in NYC and LA. I love all the details. You’ve been born into a very special niche and you have evolved into a wonderful human being, loving and giving. You probably don’t realize how much your blog means to a person like me–like you, now a septugenarian. You make me realize there is a lot more life to be lived, enjoyed and shared. Thank you for the example you are setting.

    All the best,

    T. Wylie from Atlanta

  7. an odd expression “break a leg”. madam, i shall indeed wish your lovely legs spry and exuberant well-being doing your arts momentous evolution and display

  8. Well ““break a Leg” if that helps Jane, but you wont need any, your doing fine. You even got me interested in new ideas and studies about film and THEATRE. After writing the script for you, I was researching Orson Welles and Bertolt Brecht, Brecht is often overlooked. Was reading a very good researched paper called -The Politices of Magic: Orson Welles’s Allegories of Anti-Fascism by the historian Michael Denning. Thought you would like the title. Deals with Welles’s and others who made the “Theatre and the People’s Front” Orson Welles was the American Brecht. Welles was the most important Popular Front artist in Theater,radio, and film political and aestetically and one cultural monument. Maybe that is what’s been lost after the 60’s the revolutionaly rhythms of the social dramas. You will be fine jane , that what I see my script is about a social culture industry aesthetic.

    with love and care,

  9. Tonight’s The Night! Okay, so maybe tomorrow night is THE night (opening night. But heck, tonight is our night to enjoy the show before you share it with all of LA. Steve and I will be there front row, center sending you good vibes. Break a leg, Janie! xoxo, Brian

  10. Wow! What a talented group of people coming to see such talented people on stage!
    I was thinking lately, after reading how you seemed to evolve into your stage character, first how gifted one must be to truly transform oneself into the character he/she is playing on stage or on screen. That got me wondering whether it is difficult or not to walk off stage and leave that character behind every night. Do you find yourself displaying some of the characteristics used on stage when you get home or on your days off?

  11. Break a leg!! You’ll turn that mutha out!

  12. Break a leg, Jane! Ben Vereen! I saw his show at the Fairmont in S.F…30(?) years ago. He was fabulous. Can hardly believe I’ve been reading your blog since you were on Broadway…seems like just the other day…yet so much has happened in your life since then. Hope you have a great show tomorrow night! Blessings.

  13. oh, p.s. I’m reading Keith Richard’s book right now…and just saw the passage last night of the time you mentioned to Mick. 🙂

  14. Happy to know you enjoyed Jennifer Lopez in her best role to date in El Cantante. I agree with you. Would love to see her in more roles like that one..Hey Jane, nice to see that your movie instincts are in fine form. And…break a leg.

    Rosie Landsman

  15. Definitely “Break a leg Jane!”

  16. Break a leg on your opening, Jane. I wish I could be there. You will be fabulous. Knock ’em dead.

  17. I hope you know all those talented gals aspire to be like the force that is YOU! Thanks for the peek of an exciting evening! Break a leg!

  18. I agree with Jane about the role that Jennifer did in El Cantante,i think she was perfect,she acted so well i thought that she deserved to be at least a nominated for best actress,shame they don`t take her seriously cos she`s a very good actress and she`s a very talented woman.
    Monster in Law i saw it a 100 times,Jane you looks so beautiful in that movie and you really make me laugh!

  19. Saw the show on Broadway during previews, and saw it again tonight. I really enjoyed it in New York, but I was especially moved by tonight’s show. The entire experience feels deeper, richer. I see a very distinct difference in your performance, no doubt the result of having lived with this character and the show for some time now. It’s quite extraordinary. Thank you for a gorgeous, emotional evening in the theater and congratulations to all involved.

  20. Dear jane ~ BREAK A LEG, jane!! You’re home! Sending you lots of love, moon et lady b

  21. Break a Leg!! I know you will be GREAT

  22. Looking forward to hearing about the opening, and glad you’ll have friends and family there–break a leg!

  23. Sounds like this was a great party! Will be thinking of you at the opening of your play! How exciting and wonderful you are having this experience again! Enjoy your journey with it! Throwing a “break a leg” wish for you!:)

  24. Here’s to your opening – I know it will be another great success for you!

    Break a Leg!

  25. After all the wonderful complimentary comments of bloggers who have seen you in the play’s previews,
    you make us feel ‘included’ by asking us to “throw out a little ‘break a leg’ for me”….well, here, dear Jane, I’m throwing out a big “break a leg” for you! xx

  26. Dear Jane,

    My wife and I saw your show last night. The word that kept coming to mind was operatic, not because it was filled with music (which was wonderful), but rather because of the way the actors melded together as they said their lines, not over one another to drown out, but in a spoken-word harmony that can only be described musically! We enjoyed the show very much!

    My wife’s interest in the show began as she followed Rosie O’Donnell’s blog, and her unabashed enthusiasm for Broadway in general, and your show in particular. She even bought a collage that Rosie had made from the opening night performance playbill. It hangs above her night stand. When we got home last night, I tucked our ticket stubs into the edge of the frame.

    Thanks for a wonderful show, and a wonderful time. All the best, Ron Smith

  27. Dear Jane, it’s so nice to hear the worlds view through your eyes. Thank you for doing the show and keep on keepin’ on. Maureen

  28. casser une jambe

    and a few hearts! as usual

  29. Would love to be present at the show. But instead I am sending out a big “BREAK A LEG” the show is already a hit!

  30. Break a leg 2nite Jane but nothing else!
    xxHarrisonHeld

  31. I saw your final preview performance last night. It’s hard for me to imagine that it could get any better. Thank you, and all the cast and crew for a moving, inspiring and engrossing evening in the theatre. Damn, you’re good!!!! Break a leg tonight.

  32. Dear Jane,

    Three of us from Gregg Maday’s office went to see “33 Variations” last night. We can’t stop talking about how wonderful it was – in fact, we are planning to go again. We loved your performance and were deeply moved by your heartfelt portrayal. What an inspiration you are and continue to be. Thank you!
    Kind regards, Carol, Jennifer and Arthur

  33. Break limbs. I was a drama minor in college. Remember the ballet equivalent? I don’t want to cuss here on your website, so I can’t include it in print. I thought because you have a strong connection to France you’d know ballet stuff. Am thinking of you tonight.

    Love always,

    Mary Jane

  34. I came to see you again tonight!! The show and you were brilliant. I saw it last week with my daughter. Moises was in the audience taking notes!
    Tonight I brought my husband who recently (2 weeks ago) had rotator cuff surgery. He loved it too! We were both in a production of “The Laramie Project’ two years ago and Moises has a soft spot in our hearts.
    He saw your brother before the show. And we both spotted Moises and Richard in the audience.

    Thank you again for your stunning performance. Once again I cried at the Kyrie and at the end.
    It’s such a moving play. I hope lots of people get to be moved as well.

  35. Oh , wonderful ! I understand you are so exited ; have fun tomorow . eowiin

  36. I am re-reading your book (My life so far) at the moment … well, I thought I learnt a lot the first time I read it and yet I am discovering that there is still more to learn by reading it a second time! Thank you sincerely for this wonderful gift – I cannot express how much I have benefitted from it. You are SO generous…

  37. I loved El Cantante too, not having a clue as to who that singer was. Break a leg!

  38. I should add (to above comment) that what really astonished me about your book is that, prior to reading it, I didn’t think I had any “issues” that I needed to work on. Nothing really “bad” has ever happened to me (so far). I had an idyllic childhood, I’m in a beautiful, happy marriage and I live a privileged life, so what’s to fix? Well turns out a lot of the feelings you’ve had (albeit in your case accompanied by experiences on a grand scale unlike anything I’ve ever done)are feelings that I’ve had too … and now that some of the “issues” have been named for me by you, I can SEE them and work on them. So much more than an autobiography … a self-help book for people who didn’t even know they needed help! Ha!

    Jane, I wonder if you would consider adding “Jane’s recommended reading” to your website? I don’t mean like a “book club”, I mean a list of books that you feel (no matter how long ago, or recently they were written) are “must reads”. (Maybe you could add a link to Amazon and then a sales commission could go to benefit G-CAPP.)

  39. I am so excited to see 33 Variations this Friday night! Jane and Henry Fonda will always have a special place in my heart. My dad–who died 25 years ago at the age of 53–was named Norman, and he loved Henry Fonda’s character of the same name in On Golden Pond. After he saw that movie, he frequently said, “Good God!” I also have great memories of fishing trips with my dad, and the fishing scenes in the movie really resonate with me. Anyway, I love that movie, and I can’t wait to see Jane Fonda live and in person. Thanks for the memories!

    Break a leg!

  40. You must make this play into a movie, Jane. And you must be in it. I see you closing in on Katherine Hepburn’s Oscar record. I also don’t want to miss your performance in this story. And I’m sure I’m not alone. Go Jane!

  41. You’re SO right. Michelle is fantastic in Blue Valentine. However, I think Natalie Portman should win the Oscar. Michelle would be my second choice, though.

  42. I’m a little late getting around to this blog, but glad you were able to tell Jennifer Lopez how truly wonderful she was in El Cantante. I agree totally! She was outstanding in that film and her “It” factor was very strong. Also, by the end of the movie, after seeing all those close-ups of Mark Anthony’s face, I wanted to kiss those charming, cute little lips so badly…! 🙂

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