Jane Fonda says the late French film director René Clément once propositioned her for sex so he could “see what my orgasms were like.” During a recent round of “Plead the Fifth” on the Bravo talk show Watch What Happens Live, host Andy Cohen asked the 85-year-old Oscar-winning actor and activist to name a man in Hollywood who “tried to pick you up once who you turned down.” Fonda, who appeared on the show to promote her new film Book Club: The Next Chapter quickly recalled an experience with Clément, who directed her in the 1964 thriller Joy House.
“He wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like,” Fonda explained while seated next to her Book Club costars Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. “Are you kidding me?” Cohen responded in shock. Fonda replied, “He said it in French and I pretended I didn’t understand.”
According to Variety, Jane Fonda was just 27 years old at the time of Joy House’s production, while René Clément was a 51-year-old filmmaker with multiple Cannes Film Festival and BAFTA awards to his name. Of course, Fonda would later go on to win multiple prestigious awards of her own, including two Academy Awards for best actress (Klute in 1971 and Coming Home in 1978). Clément died in 1996 at 82 years old.
Fonda added, “I have stories for you, kid. We don’t have time.” Following Jane Fonda’s revelation, which is just the latest glimpse into the film industry’s vast history of sexual harassment and abuse of power, Cohen asked the actor to name “the biggest misogynist in Hollywood.” “Oh, my God,” Fonda replied. “I plead the fifth.”
