Jane Fonda revealed on a recent episode of “Watch What Happens Live” that French director René Clément asked to sleep with her during the making of their 1964 thriller “Joy House.” Fonda starred in the film opposite Alain Delon and Lola Albright.
“Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen asked Fonda to name “one man in Hollywood that tried to pick you up once that you turned down.” The Oscar-winning actor replied: “The French director René Clément.”
Fonda elaborated, “Well, he wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like. He said it in French and I pretended I didn’t understand.”
“I have stories for you, kid, [but] we don’t have time,” Fonda added.
Clément was 51 years old at the time of production, while Fonda was 27. Clément was one of France’s most prolific filmmakers in the 1950s and 1960s, winning five prizes at the Cannes Film Festival during his career. He died in 1996 at 82 years old. The MGM-backed “Joy House” featured Fonda as a woman who falls for a card shark on the run from American gangsters.
Fonda’s revelation comes amid continued criticisms against the French film industry for perpetuating abuse. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actor Adele Haenel published an open letter this month in which she announced she was leaving the business. She slammed the Cannes Film Festival for being “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs,” citing filmmakers such as Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu.
Cannes boss Theirry Fremaux rejected Haenel’s claim, telling press at the 2023 festival, “She didn’t think that when she came to Cannes unless she suffered from a crazy dissonance.”
He added: “But if you thought that it’s a festivals for rapists, you wouldn’t be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you can’t get tickets to get into screenings.”
Fonda is currently on the promotional tour for “Book Club: The Next Chapter.” Watch her appearance on “Watch What Happens Live” in the video below.
