Jane Fonda stood on stage to accept the Life Achievement Award at the 2025 SAG Awards on Sunday 23 February. Only the greats get this one, with Barbra Streisand taking the award home last year.
A montage played of Fonda’s career
As the 87-year-old film and TV star got up on stage to accept her award, a montage played of highlights from her long and successful career.
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Fonda was presented the award by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in front of the star-studded audience who gave her a standing ovation.
Fonda started speaking to the crowd
“This means the world to me,” she began her speech. “Thank you SAG AFTRA. Your enthusiasm makes this seem less like a late twilight of my life, and more like a go girl, kick ass. Which is good because I’m not done.”
She started reflecting on her career
Fonda started reflecting on her film and TV career, saying, “I have had a really weird career. Totally unstrategic. I retired for 15 years and then I came back at 65 which is not usual, and then I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s.”
“And probably in my 90s I’ll be doing my own stunts in an action movie,” she joked.
The actress called herself a “late bloomer”
As she recalled how she returned to the industry in her 80s, Fonda called herself a “late bloomer”, and described the SAG Award as “the flower show.”
“I love acting,” she said. “We get to open people’s minds to new ideas and help them laugh when things are tough — like now. And for a woman like me who grew up in the 40s and 50s when women weren’t supposed to have opinions and get angry, acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions.”
Fonda also spoke about unions
The TV star also spoke about her support of unions, including SAG-AFTRA itself (The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), whose members have previously gone on strike for several months in demand of better work contracts.
Fonda called herself “a big believer in unions.”
She reflected on the effects of acting
“What we create is empathy. Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls. We feel their joy,” Fonda said, reflecting on the job.
Her speech got awkwardly interpreted by an announcer, but she joked about it, saying: “And I can conjure up voices!”
The actress also encouraged community
Fonda went on to give advice to those of us who will listen, saying, “We must not isolate. We must stay in community. We must find ways to project an inspiring message of the future. There will still be love. There will still be beauty. And there will be an ocean of truth for us to swim in.”
Finally, she concluded, “Let’s make it so. Thank you for this encouragement.”
Fonda started her career in 1960
The Life Achievement Award is really made for the greats, with latest recipients including Barbra Streisand, Sally Field, Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Alan Alda and Morgan Freeman.
Jane Fonda started her career in film and TV with the 1960 comedy movie Tall Story. Since then, she’s starred in movies like Klute, Coming Home, and Monster-in-Law among others.
If anything, we’re glad she’s not done yet!
