Now this is the kind of energy we need. 85-year old Jane Fonda is here to tell us women “that life gets better with age.” Maybe she’s telling everyone that but I’m feeling the feminine energy this morning. Jane is promoting Book Club: The Next Chapter, the sequel to Book Club that also stars Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Don Johnson, Craig T Nelson, and Andy Garcia. I actually really enjoyed the first one and the trailers for this one look fun. The premise is Jane’s character is marrying Don Johnson, which was a surprisingly sexy and fabulous paring in the first film. The ladies go to Italy and kookiness ensues, but in a fun and Italian way. So I’m in. It makes sense, then, that People would want to explore starting over with Jane in her cover article. Not only is her character getting married in the movie, Jane has recently gone into remission for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma just last year. With everything she’s been through in her long life, Jane says she’s, “the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Jane Fonda says getting older is not something to fear but something to celebrate. At 85, the legendary star is busier than ever and calls this chapter of her life “the happiest I’ve ever been.”

The Oscar-winning star has four films out this year, including the comedy Book Club: The Next Chapter, in theaters May 12. Fonda says filming the sequel to her 2019 rom-com hit Book Club with friends Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen in Italy was “a dream come true.”

“It’s everything I imagined women’s friendships can be,” Fonda says of their bond. “When I was younger, there was this assumption that women were kind of catty and four stars working together wouldn’t work because they’d be competing, and it’s just not true. We’re friends and we love working together and we help each other when we need to.”

She adds that one of the many perks of getting older is learning what really matters in life.

“A bad thing happens, and you think, ‘Well, that’s happened before, and I’m fine. I’ll get over it.’ You know what’s important. I spent a lot of time like a canoe with no paddle being carried in the current. As I got older, I learned I’m going to put an oar in the water and steer.”

[From People]

Jane is really into her female friendship these days. I get it, she put so much of herself into her marriages, she probably didn’t get to explore too many women-led relationships in the past. I’ve seen a couple of interviews with Sally Fields, Diane Keaton and other co-stars who said Jane simply would not leave them alone. They loved her, but they were more stay-at-home, not-respond kind of people and Jane kept at them to spend time and do stuff together. Every homebody needs that person. I do. I need that friend to get out and spend real time in the world (and if she’s reading, we’ll plan to go see this film). I need to listen to my person too, because female friendships are truly wonderful but they need nurturing.

I like Jane’s point about reaching an age that fear is manageable because we’ve faced so much already. It’s true. Each decade comes with a bit more peace. I don’t think life is going to get easier by any stretch, but it will likely be less scary because of what we’ve overcome.

Here’s the trailer for Book Club: The Next Chapter

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Photo credit: People, Getty Images and Cover Images