At the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 23, 2025, Jane Fonda, 87, was honored with the SAG Life Achievement Award. In her acceptance speech, she emphasized the importance of empathy and unity in today’s socio-political climate. Fonda highlighted the unique role actors play in fostering understanding, stating, “What we create is empathy. Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls.”
Addressing the often politicized term “woke,” she clarified, “‘Woke’ just means you give a damn about other people.”
Fonda called for collective action, urging her peers to resist isolation and build inclusive communities to support the vulnerable. Reflecting on historical social movements, she reminded the audience, “We are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal.”
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