In a recent live broadcast, Jane Fonda shared a troubling incident from her past. She revealed that while working on the 1964 thriller "Joy House", French filmmaker René Clément made an unseemly proposition to her. The film saw Fonda sharing the screen with Alain Delon and Lola Albright.
During the conversation, host Andy Cohen asked Fonda to mention "a man who tried to charm her, but she rejected his advances." In response, Fonda named the renowned French filmmaker René Clément.
Sharing more details about the incident, Fonda disclosed that Clément wanted to be intimate with her under the pretext of understanding how her character would react in an intimate scene in the film. He expressed this in French, and she responded by pretending to not comprehend.
She added, hinting at more untold stories, "I've got loads more to share, but we're running short on time."
At the time of the production, Clément was 51 years old while Fonda was only 27. Clément was a highly acclaimed director in France during the 1950s and 1960s, earning five awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival throughout his career. He passed away in 1996 at the age of 82. The film "Joy House", supported by MGM, showcased Fonda as a woman who falls in love with a card player hiding from American mobsters.
This revelation by Fonda adds fuel to the ongoing criticism against the French film industry for enabling misconduct. The actor Adele Haenel, known for "Portrait of a Lady on Fire", recently wrote an open letter stating she was exiting the industry. She criticized the Cannes Film Festival for seemingly protecting those accused of abuse, including filmmakers like Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu.
Thierry Fremaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, countered Haenel’s accusations during the 2023 festival press meet, suggesting she hadn't felt this way when she previously attended Cannes. He quipped, "If you believed this festival favored those accused, you wouldn't be here listening to me, nor would you complain about the lack of screening tickets."
Q&A Section:
Q: Who is the man Jane Fonda named as having tried to charm her?
A: Jane Fonda named French filmmaker René Clément as the man who tried to charm her but was turned down.
Q: What was the pretext René Clément used for his proposition to Jane Fonda?
A: René Clément's proposition to Jane Fonda was based on the pretext of understanding how her character would react in an intimate scene in their film.
Q: What criticism did Adele Haenel make against the Cannes Film Festival?
A: Adele Haenel criticized the Cannes Film Festival for seemingly protecting individuals accused of abuse, including renowned filmmakers.
Q: What was Thierry Fremaux's response to Adele Haenel's accusations?
A: Thierry Fremaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, suggested that if Adele Haenel truly believed the festival was protecting those accused, she wouldn't be attending or complaining about a lack of tickets to screenings.
