Jane Fonda Says She Doesn't Want to Be in 'a Sexual Relationship' Again: 'I Don't Have That Desire'

"What I’ve had to really think about is that I’m not really capable [of intimacy]," the actress tells Harper's Bazaar for its April issue

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Published on March 25, 2021 11:00 AM

Jane Fonda is ready to put her intimate relationships to bed.

In a wide-ranging cover interview for Harper's Bazaar's April issue, on newsstands April 6, the Oscar-winning actress opens up about her thoughts on intimacy at 83 years old, and why she doesn't want to be in a "sexual relationship" again.

"One of the painful things that I've realized by 80—I don't even know how old I am—83, and single now. What I've had to really think about is that I'm not really capable [of intimacy]," she says. "It's not them. It's me. If a guy had come along and said, 'Come on, Fonda, show up,' I would have run away scared."

The Grace and Frankie star, who is no stranger to discussing her sex life, says she had been "attracted to men who never would have done that to me because they couldn't necessarily show up themselves."

"I didn't know that at the time, but now I know. I don't think I can do anything about it now, but that's the truth," she says.

Fonda adds, "I don't want to be in a relationship, a sexual relationship, again. I don't have that desire."

Despite not having interest in pursuing a physical relationship, Fonda says she still fantasizes about the idea of one.

12638969 — Bazaar, Photographs by: Mario Sorrenti

The activist says she dreams about meeting "a professor or a researcher, somebody in that line who is really capable of loving, of cherishing a woman, so that I could test myself and see if I could show up."

"I think maybe now I could, but the problem is that, like a man, I would want a younger man," she admits. "Isn't that awful? It's a thing about skin. I would want a younger man, and I'm too vain."

Fonda echoed similar sentiments in a recent conversation with Page Six, telling the outlet she has no interest in getting married again.

"I'll tell you something that I haven't achieved, which is a successful marriage," Fonda said. "But the second part of your question is, 'Do you want to?' I don't want to."

Fonda went on to explain how she's been enjoying her alone time after her last relationship ended in 2017. The two-time Oscar winner dated music mogul Richard Perry for eight years before the split.

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"See I live by myself. I don't have any guy who doesn't want a woman who is willing to be angry, and who doesn't want a woman who is willing to be angry and stand up," she said.

"I'm not threatening anybody. I can watch whatever I want on TV. So I don't ever want to be married again. But it's something I wish I'd been better at," she added.

Fonda was first married to French director Roger Vadim from 1965 to 1973 and the two welcomed daughter Vanessa in 1968. She then married politician Tom Hayden from 1973 to 1990, welcoming son Troy in 1973. Fonda's last marriage was to CNN founder Ted Turner from 1991 to 2001.