Jane Fonda is reflecting on her bond with Robert Redford.
Following the news that the legendary actor died at the age of 89 on Sept. 16, Jane—who shared the screen with Robert on four different occasions—expressed her devastation.
“It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone,” she shared in a statement with E! News. “I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way.”
Jane added of the longtime political and environmental activist, “He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”
Robert and Jane first worked together on the 1966 film The Chase, which saw the pair portray a married couple whose lives are turned upside down when Robert’s character escapes from jail and returns home.
But that isn’t the only time the pair played onscreen lovers: they would reprise their chemistry again in 1967’s Barefoot in the Park, 1979’s The Electric Horseman and again in the more recent Our Souls at Night, which came out in 2017.
It was that last film that was especially meaningful for them both.
As Jane said of working with Robert again during an interview with NPR in 2017, “I never thought I'd get a chance to do this towards the end of my life. It's like bookends—there was [The] Chase and Barefoot In The Park, and then Our Souls At Night at the other end of life. That just felt really good.”
As for Robert, he “felt the same way” as his costar.
“I enjoyed working with her over the years because we developed a rhythm that was natural and easy,” the Hot Rock actor began, “didn't require a lot of discussion or psychological exploration or anything like that. It just was.”
He also felt Jane was the perfect pick to play Addie, who Robert said is a “driving force,” adding, “And Jane herself is a driving force.”
Now, following his passing, Jane isn’t the only peer of Robert’s mourning the hole his death leaves behind, both personally and professionally.
Meryl Streep, who shared the screen with Robert in Out of Africa, told Deadline, “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.”
Marlee Matlin, for her part, emphasized the impact Robert and Sundance Film Festival—which he founded in 1978—had on her own life and career.
“Our film, CODA, came to the attention of everyone because of Sundance,” she wrote on X. “And Sundance happened because of Robert Redford. A genius has passed.”
For a closer look back at Robert’s life, read on.
1965
1967
Barefoot In The Park
1969
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1970
Little Fauss and Big Halsy
1973
The Way We Were
1978
1980
Directing Ordinary People
1981
1985
Out of Africa
1988
1993
Indecent Proposal
1995
1998
The Horse Whisperer
2002
2007
2012
2013
2015
2018
The Old Man & the Gun
2021