Jane Fonda delivered a powerful speech while accepting the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The 87-year-old actress and activist spoke about the importance of empathy, unions, and resistance in the current political climate. She also explained the meaning of “woke,” which received loud applause from the audience.
Jane Fonda’s SAG Awards 2025 speech explained
Jane Fonda, 87, received the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Reflecting on her career, she noted, “I’ve had a really weird career—totally unstrategic. I retired for 15 years and came back at 65, which is not usual. I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s. And probably in my 90s, I’ll be doing my own stunts in an action movie” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Fonda emphasized the role of unions, stating, “I’m a big believer in unions. They have our backs. They bring us into community, and they give us power. Community means power, and this is really important right now when workers’ power has been attacked and community is being weakened.”
She also spoke about the need for empathy in difficult times. “A whole lot of people are going to be hurt by what is coming our way. And even if they’re of a different political persuasion, we need to call upon our empathy and not judge but listen from our hearts,” the actress said.
She addressed political challenges, declaring, “We are going to need a big tent to resist successfully what is coming at us.” She then added, “Empathy is not weak or woke. By the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people.” This statement received loud applause.
Fonda referenced historical activism, asking, “Have any of you ever watched a documentary of one of the great social movements—apartheid or civil rights or Stonewall—and asked yourself, would you have been brave enough to walk the bridge? We don’t have to wonder anymore. We are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal.”
She concluded by stating, “We must not isolate. We must stay in community, we must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to project an inspiring view of the future.”
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on ComingSoon.
