FEELING FULFILLED IN HER THIRD ACT

Celebrated for decades as Hollywood royalty, Jane Fonda could easily be living a comfortable life of extravagance and leisure.

- SEEMA MEHTA

JANE FONDA speaks during a "Fire Drill Fridays" rally in Washington, D.C., prior to a march on Nov. 8, 2019.

Instead, the 87-year-old actor and Vietnam War-era provocateur is as likely to be seen knocking on voters' doors in Phoenix on a balmy summer afternoon as sashaying down a red carpet at a glitzy movie premiere.

Politically active for more than a half-century, Fonda is now focusing her energy, celebrity, connections and resources on fighting climate change and combating the "existential crises" created by President Trump.

Calling fossil fuels a threat to humanity, Fonda created JanePAC, a political action committee that has spent millions on candidates at the forefront of that fight.

"Nature has always been in my bones, in my cells," Fonda said in a recent interview, describing herself as an environmentalist since her tomboy youth. "And then, about 10 years ago... I started reading more, and I realized what we're doing to the climate, which means what we're doing to us, what we're doing to the future, to our grandchildren and our children.

"Our existence is being challenged all because an industry, the fossil-fuel industry, wants to make more money," she said. "I mean, I try to understand what, what must they think when they go to sleep at night? These men, they're destroying everything."

Rather than hosting fancy political fundraisers or headlining presidential campaign rallies, Fonda devotes her efforts to electing likeminded state legislators, city council members, utility board officials and candidates in other less flashy but critical races.

Fonda said her organization took its cue from successful GOP tactics.