Award-winning actor Jane Fonda is coming to San Francisco’s iconic Castro Theatre this week, and while her film career is on a hot streak — she stars in three movies released so far this year, “80 for Brady,” “Moving On” and “Book Club: The Next Chapter” — her fans should know that none of these films, or any others from her storied resume, will be the focus of this event.
Fonda is coming not as an actress but as an activist who has lent her efforts to a variety of issues over the years, from the antiwar movement to civil rights. Now, she’s switching gears to confront the threat of climate change.
“I’m trying to talk to people about the climate crisis, and explain why we need to vote with the climate in our heart,” says Fonda. “The window of opportunity for us to avoid catastrophe is closing rapidly, and we need to act fast, so that’s why I’m coming to San Francisco.”
This event comes in the wake of the two-time Oscar winner (for “Klute” and “Coming Home”) launching the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, a campaign focused on electing supporters of climate-change laws on the federal, state and local level.
Fonda has directing her time and effort to the campaign for some time, and she’s adamant that it is an all hands on deck situation, and she can’t do it alone.
“I am hopeful that together, people will rise to the occasion, and demand the change that has to happen. We have to phase out fossil fuels, and save our ecosystems from collapse.” she said. “It’s the decade we are living through, right now, the 2020’s, where what we do, or fail to do, will determine whether there’s a livable future.”
If you are wondering whether Fonda is trading her active Hollywood career for eco-activism, don’t think this thought hasn’t escaped her.
“There was a moment once, when I told a friend that I wanted to quit the business and become an organizer,” Fonda recollected, “He looked me right in the eye and told me that the movement had plenty of organizers, what it didn’t have was movie stars.”
This stuck with her, but she recognizes just how far her voice echoes, and has opted not to neglect her wide-range of influence, but to exercise it in the name of the greater good.
“We are facing an existential crisis, and I want to use my platform to confront it.”
Fonda was in France for the Cannes Film Festival over the weekend, where she presented the Palme d’Or Award to winner Justine Triet (and made headlines after she playfully tossed the Palme d’Or Scroll at the director).
Fonda is situated in a unique position of both privilege and moral obligation, but she also knows that not everyone has the resources to fight with such energy and motivation. However, she maintains that now is not the time to succumb to intimidation or defeat.
“I’m sure that most people have, at some point in their life, seen a documentary that shows people being really brave,” asserts Fonda, “They’re standing up to fire hoses and police batons and threats to their lives. We inevitably all ask ourselves, would I be that brave? Well, this is our documentary moment. Right now, we cannot afford to be in despair, or to think that it’s too late. There is a lot we can still do, especially when we work together. That’s what I’m trying to communicate, and that’s why I’m coming to the Castro.”
JANE FONDA
When: 6:30 p.m. June 1
Where: Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., San Francisco
Tickets: $18-$36; apeconcerts.com
