Jane Fonda Says She Gave Up Drinking Because She Only Has “So Many Tomorrows Left”

Jane Fonda may be forever swilling an ice-cold martini when in character on Grace and Frankie, but, in real life, the actress has recently become a full-blown teetotaler.

In an interview with CBS News about the final season of the show—the longest-running original series in Netflix history—Fonda revealed that she stopped drinking. “And here's why: It's because even with one drink, like, if I had a martini tonight, I would be at half-mast tomorrow,” she explained. “Now, that wasn't true when I was younger. But as you get older, I think alcohol affects you differently. And I only have so many tomorrows left. I don't want to be at half-mast for any of them!”

Of course, as the head of an exercise empire, the actress has always been very conscientious about her health, but at her age, she says that now means also embracing all the things her body is no longer capable of doing. “I'm super-conscious that I'm closer to death. And it doesn't really bother me that much,” Fonda said. “What bothers me is that my body is, you know, basically not mine! My knees are not mine, my hips are not mine, my shoulder's not mine. You're looking at somebody who's only me from here up.” But despite that, she added, “The fact is, if you're alive and relatively healthy at an older–I mean, I'm almost 85. The fact that I'm still alive and working, wow, who cares if I don't have my old joints? And I can't ski or bike or run anymore? Enh. You know, you can be really old at 60, and you can be really young at 85. Health!”

But just because she's in the twilight years of her life doesn't mean Fonda isn't still focused on making this planet better for all the generations that come after her. Both Fonda and her Grace and Frankie co-star, Lily Tomlin, have long been civically engaged. And for Fonda, that was always what her workout tapes were all about—raising money for the causes she cares about. The actress explained, “I thought, 'Well, maybe I should start a company that will fund what we're trying to do.' And I had a very smart friend who said, 'Never go into a business that you don't understand.' But there was one thing I knew, which was exercise.” That piece of advice led to her selling almost 17 million copies of those tapes, most of the profits from which she gave away. Tomlin added, “She does that, she gives all her money away. I mean, [her] jacket: I've seen this at least ten times!”

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