Jane Fonda: I want to star in ‘Barbarella’ sequel

Jane Fonda as Barbarella, center, and a winged John Phillip Law on the set of "Barbarella." (Los Angeles Times archives)

Two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda is back in exercise videos, but she wants to get even more physical — the 73-year-old actress said she would pounce on the chance to return to the lusty universe of “Barbarella,” the 1968 sci-fi adventure that became a cult classic.

Jane Fonda in "Barbarella" (Los Angeles Times archives)

“I have a dream – to do a sequel to ‘Barbarella,’” Fonda said. “Not a remake, a sequel! Look, I get shtupped by a blind angel, OK? Let’s just take it from there.”

In the original film, Barbarella was bedded by a number of aliens — including a winged fellow who looked quite angel-like and lived in a bird nest — and was also threatened with death inside an orgasm machine. The movie, made in Europe and directed by Fonda’s then-husband, Roger Vadim, was called the “kinkiest film of the year” by Penthouse when the magazine put Fonda on its cover back in 1968.

The film is based on the French comic books of the same name, and while it is relentlessly erotic it’s not explicit and to today’s audience’s it might be even quaint. Still, the Dino DeLaurentiis-produced movie’s imagery has echoed for years in pop culture — the band Duran Duran’s name, for instance, was inspired by one of the characters.

A remake has been discussed for years, but all attempts have fizzled.

Jane Fonda leads stretching exercises at a Long Beach event in October 2010. (Mike Nelson/EPA)

Fonda, meanwhile, returned  as a Hollywood screen presence after a 15-year hiatus with the 2005 comedy “Monster-in-Law” and followed it up with 2007”s “Georgia Rule.” Last year she was back in the role of fitness guru, too, with two exercise videos aimed at generational peers.

Sure, she’s in shape, but — “Barbarella”?

Fonda insisted that she is not joking about the idea. Just as Jeff Bridges returned to a vintage sci-fi role as a graybeard presence in “Tron: Legacy,” Fonda says there is something appealing about reconnecting with her old interstellar sex kitten.

“I think,” she said, “it could be funny – and feminist.”

This Sunday, in the Arts & Books section of the Los Angeles Times, Fonda opens up about her more earth-bound projects. Among them: starring in the Moises Kaufman play, “33 Variations,” which begins previews at CTG’s Ahmanson Theatre this Sunday; a new line of fitness videos for boomers and seniors; a blog; a new book about aging due out this September; two just-completed films and an upcoming LACMA film retrospective opening Feb. 11.

– Deborah Vankin and Geoff Boucher (Follow me on Twitter @LATherocomplex.)

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