Jane Fonda will be recognized at the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. At the SAG Awards in February 2025, Jane, 86, will receive the SAG Life Achievement Award, which is SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor.
The award recognizes Jane for both her acting and her activism. In addition to starring in a myriad of films and shows over the course of six decades, Jane is well-known for her activism. She has advocated for women’s rights and Indigenous rights, opposed the Vietnam War and Iraq War, and has recently focused on climate activism, among other advocacy efforts.
In a news release on October 17, 2023, SAG-AFTRA announced that Jane is being recognized with the SAG Life Achievement Award because of her “career and humanitarian accomplishments.” Per the news release, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher called Jane Fonda “a trailblazer” and “an extraordinary talent.”
“[Jane Fonda is] a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy and culture with unwavering passion,” Fran said.
“We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created,” Fran continued. “Her fearless honesty has been an inspiration to me and many others in our industry.”
For Jane, the recognition is truly an honor. “I am deeply honored and humbled to be this year’s recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award,” the actress and activist said in a statement. “I have been working in this industry for almost the entirety of my life and there’s no honor like the one bestowed on you by your peers.”
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She also praised the actors union. “SAG-AFTRA works tirelessly to protect the working actor and to ensure that union members are being treated equitably in all areas, and I am proud to be a member as we continue to work to protect generations of performers to come,” Jane continued in her statement.
During an interview organized by Covering Climate Now, Jane shed light on why activism is so important to her. Reflecting on her role as an activist, she explained that she sees herself as someone who can amplify people’s voices so they reach a larger audience.
“When I’m doing the work I’m doing, I’m picking up the signals from the people who live in Wilmington and the Central Valley and Kern County and are really suffering, and the animals that can’t speak, and trying to lift them up and send [their stories] out to a broader audience,” Jane explained at the time. She said that activists like herself — those who use their platforms to raise awareness of issues affecting different communities — are “repeaters.”
“It’s a very valid thing to do,” she added.
In 2019, Jane was in the news when she helped Greenpeace USA organize the “Fire Drill Fridays” climate change protests. Alongside other climate change activists, she protested in Washington, DC, and she was arrested multiple times. Even at age 86, she continues to engage in activism. “I just don’t want to be somebody who was arranging china while the Earth burned,” she explained on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson.
The 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Jane will receive the SAG Life Achievement Award, will stream on Netflix on Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 8 p.m. EST.
