The celebrated actress opened up to ET about her battle with cancer and what it was like fighting her illness.
Reason to celebrate! Jane Fonda is opening up about her cancer going into remission and reflecting on how hard her health battle was during treatment.
Fonda walked the carpet at the world premiere screening of her new comedy, 80 for Brady -- which kicked off the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on Friday night -- and she spoke with ET's Denny Directo about her recent health journey.
According to Fonda, she found out the joyful news that her cancer was in remission "right before my 85th birthday, so I really celebrated."
Fonda first revealed that she'd been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in September. "This is a very treatable cancer," she wrote at the time. "80% of people survive, so I feel very lucky." She gave an update shortly thereafter, in which she wrote that her fans' "love and support mean the world to me," and noted that she felt "stronger than I have in years" after her first chemo treatment.
However, speaking with ET on Friday, Fonda reflected on the treatment regimen and explained, "Chemo hit me hard."
"It was the first time that I thought, 'OK, this is what most people experience.' Because the kind of chemo that I was taking wasn't so bad in the beginning," she said, adding that it got increasingly more draining.
Fonda shared that, even with her cancer in remission, she still finds it important to contemplate and reflect on mortality.
"I think about death a lot. I have for the last 30 years," she said. "I think that's a healthy thing to do. It's hard to live right if you don't think about death. It's a part of life."
"Other cultures aren't so afraid of thinking about death as we are," she added. "I spend a lot of time thinking about it and it's made my life a lot better. And when you get a cancer diagnosis, you think about it even more and you want to be sure you get the things done that you want to get done, so when the time comes you won't have a lot of regrets."
For Fonda, battling cancer hasn't dissuaded her from staying active, working hard and making the most of her time -- including celebrating the premiere of her new film.
In the upcoming comedy, 80 for Brady, Fonda stars alongside Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field as four friends who win tickets to the Super Bowl and make it their mission to meet Tom Brady himself -- and the NFL icon actually plays himself in the movie.
Fonda told ET at the premiere that she hasn't had a chance to spend any time with Brady since the filming, but joked, "I actually have his number and the number of his manager, but I don't want to take advantage."
"But he's going to be doing all the promotional [stuff], so we're going to be seeing each other again," she added.
80 for Brady is set for release on Feb. 3, 2023.
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