From Oscar-winning film roles to pioneering fitness videos, Jane Fonda has tackled a lot in her career, but she’s never attempted series television until now.
Fonda will soon be seen in a recurring role on Aaron Sorkin’s heavily hyped HBO series “The Newsroom,” and during an interview for her upcoming film “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding,” Fonda briefly discussed what audiences can expect from the series and her role in it.
“It’s just perfect television, it’s absolutely brilliant,” Fonda says. “I think it’s going to have a huge impact on people and on the news and maybe on the election. It’s going to be very controversial. I’m so proud to have a small role in it.”
Her character, bigwig businesswoman Leona Lansing, first appears in episode three and Fonda says she’ll be in three episodes total in the ten episode first season.
“The newsroom represents less than 3% of my [character’s] annual profit, but it can make a lot of trouble for me,” Fonda says. “I have companies in China and Canada… I know something about this!”
Yes, she did bring some of her intimate knowledge of media mogul and former husband Ted Turner with her to the role: “I drew from some of the personality traits of Ted, because he’s really funny.”
Fonda, who is very active in social media, also blogged about her experience on the show last month.
“The Newsroom” premieres Sunday, June 24 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO