This woman is 83 years old and killing it on the cover of a major glossy; cheers to that on a Friday. (I might have some low-key, very nitpicky notes about her hair, but I get what they were going for, and it looks great in the editorial shots, so I’m going to give this to the team!)
The interview, by Durga Chew-Bose, is EXTREMELY good; Jane does not hold back and it’s all extremely interesting. She talks a lot about her environmental activism, but it’s a pretty wide-ranging chat. (I was at an event before the 2018 midterms learning about canvassing to get out the vote — this was, of course, when we could safely do that — and Jane was the speaker and she was great; she looked fantastic, she brought her dog, and she was very compelling and smart.) This bit is particularly insight about herself, I thought:
DCB: Hilton Als has described your tone as “imploring.” Meryl Streep once characterized your alertness as “feral.” The combination of both powers—taking notice and then appealing to others—is time-tested with you, no?
JF: I always feel that I’ve got to pay attention so I can learn. And I try to have friends who can teach me. I’m a student. I’m a generic kind of person. I’m very observant. I receive it. And then I become the megaphone. I don’t invent things. You have to know where your strengths are. I’m derivative; I’m not original.
DCB: It’s funny to hear you say you aren’t original.
JF: I’m original as a character but not as a thinker. Although, at my advanced age, I can sort of put things together now that I couldn’t before and say, “Oh. Okay.” I always feel in a room of people that I’m the youngest and the least experienced. And I know that other people view me as the opposite, and that makes me uncomfortable.
I could have pulled about ten other quotes, honestly, because the whole chat is pretty fascinating — she touches a lot on her relationships, and she’s really got a sense of herself that is honest and forthright (and gossipy!) that we rarely get in celebrity interviews; click on through to read it and see the pleasantly slinky editorial. I’m delighted that we’re still in the era of the Sexy Tootsie!
