"I’m not afraid of death, but I’m afraid of getting to the end without becoming the best I can be as a person."
Jane Fonda is just months away from her 80th birthday, and has no plans of slowing down.
The stunning actress is featured in the November issue of Town & Country magazine and boldly graces the cover of the publication in a black-and-white photo that appears to be unretouched.
While Fonda is often flawless, she is not interested in striving for perfection. "Perfect? It doesn’t exist," she says. "What matters is that you’re whole."
The Our Souls at Night star has always had a fierce presence in Hollywood, but admits that even she has fears. "I’m not afraid of death, but I’m afraid of getting to the end without becoming the best I can be as a person," she explains. "There’s a lot of time behind me and not much time ahead of me."
Fonda adds, "And whatever time is left, I want to do it differently."
Town & Country contributor Brooks Barnes notes that by the end of the interview, they were both in tears. "I figure, the way to live, especially in the latter part of your life, is to envision how you want to die,” Fonda says. “I think we all would like it to be in bed, surrounded by family and loved ones. To get there you have to work hard to heal the wounds and mend the fences. Because in the end it’s always what you didn’t do, not what you did."
Last month, Fonda spoke with ET about being finally content in her life. "Right now, I'm about as happy as I've ever been," the two-time Oscar winner said. "And I've worked hard to get here, and I've worked hard to stay healthy."
"I think it's important to live life with intention because otherwise you’re just sort of at the mercy of fate,” Fonda continued. “I mean, we all are to some extent. But I don’t know, I just try and take it by the balls and make it my own life I'm talking about."
