Jane Fonda (85) has lived a secret life for years. In a new episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, the actress opens up about her years-long struggle with an eating disorder, which she says has been a “horrible addiction.”
“My career as a film actress was just starting in my twenties. I had very, very bad bulimia,” says Fonda in an interview with podcast host Alex Cooper (28). “I was very, very unhappy.” She would not have thought then that she would reach her 30th year.
Addiction ruled her whole life. She explains: “I hardly dated because I was unhappy and had this eating disorder. And then I also made films that I didn’t particularly like.” She quickly fell into the trap of the eating disorder: At first her unhealthy habits seemed “so innocent”, soon every aspect of her life was determined by the thought of the disease.
“It’s a very lonely thing. And you get addicted to it. If you eat something, you want to get rid of it,” says Fonda, describing her condition. External pressures – from the film industry and from her family – would have fueled the bulimia even further.
The disease was still a taboo subject at the time, nobody talked about it. “I didn’t even know there was a word for it!” The bulimia accompanied her for years, and Fonda only realized shortly before her 40th birthday: “If I keep going like this, I will die.” A “cold turkey” followed. “It was really difficult. (…) But over time it gets easier and easier.”
