Ted Danson has revealed that he had a “wake-up call” about aging after he met Jane Fonda when he was 70 years old.
On Thursday’s episode of the podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, the 76-year-old The Good Place and Cheers actor spoke to Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson about her career so far and what she has planned for the future.
During the conversation, Danson said meeting Fonda encouraged him to change how he was addressing his plans for the future. While most people slow down as they get older, he said that the Hollywood legend still had her foot “on the gas.” Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Danson and Fonda for comment on Thursday outside of normal business hours.
From left: Ted Danson smiles at Pendry West Hollywood on June 5, 2024, in West Hollywood, California; and Jane Fonda poses at Palm Springs High School on January 6, 2023, in Palm Springs, California. He has revealed how the iconic actress changed his perception of aging.
Jesse Grant/David Crotty/Getty Images
“My, kind of, wake-up call, when I was—I’m 76, almost 77—when I was turning 70, I realized I was starting to look for a nice, soft landing place. ‘I better get everything in order,’ and, you know, and so—whatever, you know,” Danson said.
“And I met Jane Fonda because Mary [Danson’s wife, the actor, comedian and singer Mary Steenburgen] and she were about to do a film together, and it was like, holy s***, this woman has her foot—at 80—on the gas pedal.”
“She does, she really does,” Brunson said, before Danson added: “‘No, go full speed ahead.'”
The moment that led to this point in the conversation was when Danson asked Brunson what she would hope to be doing 10 years from now if she had a magic wand.
“Are you pointing or aiming, or are you just living in this moment, which is unbelievably successful? But do you have some, something you also want to do or—and I don’t even mean work-wise, I just mean with your life,” Danson asked.
“I’ve been reevaluating this recently, and I want to continue to live,” Brunson responded.
She added: “I know that sounds corny, but when I was younger, I really lived, I really took risks and enjoyed life and stuff, and as I’ve gotten older—especially as managing Abbott—I’ve become a little bit more rigid, a little bit more of the adult, and I don’t think I can afford to lose the childlike glee that comes from living and making mistakes and taking risks. Because I think that, eventually, that’s what’s going to help me create again, which I do think is my ultimate thing that I do. So, that’s kind of my goal, is just to keep living.”
Brunson then used the analogy of a car to help further deliver her point, saying: “And I felt like, before Abbott, I felt like I spent many, many years building a car, right? Slowly putting together pieces of a car and now I’m riding in the car, but now I—it might be time to build a new car. I might need to build something that can go off-road.
“I know I need to build a nice, new thing, so, in order to do that, I need to feel again,” Brunson added. “Feel what I need and constantly remember that I don’t need to be a boring suit … I just want to have fun, too. I don’t want to stop having fun.”
