Jane Fonda is mourning the loss of her longtime friend and co-star Robert Redford, who died at the age of 89.
“It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can’t stop crying,” Fonda shared in a statement to USA TODAY. “He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”
Fonda and Redford’s friendship went on for decades, beginning with their first film together in 1960’s Tall Story. They went on to co-star in The Chase (1966), the beloved romantic comedy Barefoot in the Park (1967), and the hit drama The Electric Horseman (1979).
Nearly 50 years later, the pair reunited for one final collaboration in the Netflix rom-com Our Souls at Night (2017). They celebrated the film together at the Venice Film Festival, where their enduring friendship and on-screen chemistry were once again on full display.
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In 2017, the actress told The Hollywood Reporter that she “couldn’t keep my hands off” Redford when they filmed Barefoot in the Park. “I was constantly forcing myself on him. In Our Souls at Night, the dynamic of my character to his character was somewhat similar. I just love the fact that these films bookend our careers,” she shared.
“We played that young love just getting married [in Barefoot], and now we play old people love and old people sex,” Fonda added. “He’s a great kisser. It was fun to kiss him in my 20s and then to kiss him again in my almost-80s.”
In a 2023 interview with Vulture, Fonda admitted, “I made four films with him, and for three, I was in love with him. Which meant I had a really good time.”
Redford, however, told The Telegraph in 2017 that he had no idea “Jane Fonda was in love with me,” though he shared a similar statement about what it was like working with the former model.
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“It’s easy,” he said on the Today show that same year. “We’ve done many films over the years, so it just worked out that way. There was not a lot of discussion, we didn’t have to talk about a lot. Things just kind of fell into place between us, and there wasn’t much more to think about.”
Meryl Streep, who starred alongside Redford in the 1985 drama Out of Africa, also paid tribute in a statement with The Independent writing, “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace, my lovely friend.”
