Jane Fonda Opens Up About Her Cancer Battles: “I Was a Sun-Worshipper”
Jane Fonda is on the April 2019 cover of British Vogue, an issue dedicated challenging the stereotypes surrounding aging.
Fonda, 81, opens about her ongoing health battles, including skin and breast cancer scares.
Despite health issues, Fonda says “it’s important to understand that older women are the fastest growing demographic in the whole world.”
Jane Fonda has always been pretty candid about her health. While she has struggled with poor body image, faced heavy criticism for her plastic surgery procedures, and gone through numerous surgeries for her back, hip, and knee, she’s still fighting on at 81. In fact, her Netflix hit Grace and Frankie, where she stars alongside Lily Tomlin, has been renewed for a sixth season in 2020.
And in the upcoming April issue of British Vogue, Fonda once again gets candid about her health scares, including multiple instances of cancer.
“I’ve had a lot of cancer," she shared in the interview, per E! News. “I was a sun-worshipper. When I have a day off, I frequently go to my skin doctor and have things cut off me by a surgeon.” Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and it’s most common in people who are 50 or older, have light-colored skin, have a family history of skin cancer, or have spent plenty of time in the sun without sunscreen.
This isn’t the first time Fonda has shared her battle with skin cancer. She confirmed that she had a cancerous growth removed from her lip in January 2018 after she made press appearances wearing a bandage.
At the time, Fonda expressed that she was going to be fine, and even made a lighthearted comment about her procedure during an interview with Howard Stern. “Hey listen, the world is falling apart, what’s a lip?” she joked. (PSA: Your lips need sunscreen, too! Stock up on these lip balms with SPF before summer hits.)
But the cancer scares didn’t stop there. During the 2016 Golden Globes, where Fonda was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Youth, she explained that her gown served a purpose beyond looking glamorous.
“I get out of the car and I have the strange white dress with all the ruffles? That’s because I’d just had a mastectomy and I had to cover my bandages,” she said in the British Vogue interview. (A mastectomy is a breast cancer treatment which all or part of the breast tissue is removed depending on how far the cancer has progressed.)
As for where Fonda’s diagnosis is now? She says “it’s an ongoing process. So there’s that.”
Regardless, she isn’t letting her health get in the way of all she has to offer. That’s why British Vogue chose her as their cover star for what they call The Non-Issue. “Now is the time to challenge stereotypes and positively shape our perception of age; encouraging a future where we can all embrace growing older,” according to a brand statement.
Fonda echoed that sentiment: “It’s important to understand that older women are the fastest growing demographic in the whole world. It’s time to recognize our value.”
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