Jane Fonda wears many hats: Oscar winner, Emmy-winning TV star, political activist, and exercise pioneer — still.
The 87-year-old actor paved the way for the at-home exercise industry almost 42 years ago with her original workout video series. Her easy-to-follow routines, magnetic presence, and classic leotards and legwarmers made her debut 1982 video the top-selling VHS tape for six straight years.
“We had no idea that it was going to become the phenomenon that it did,” Fonda tells Bustle over Zoom (wearing sunglasses inside, because she can). “I didn’t know what a VCR was, but one thing I know is that the workouts were enjoyable.”
Over four decades later, Fonda’s classes are going from VCR to VR, with the help of Supernatural. The fitness app, available on Meta Quest, worked with the exercise legend to create a four-part series that fuses her iconic workouts with virtual reality technology. “I knew right away that it would be successful because it’s fun,” she says. “It really works. You work up a sweat. You really get your cardio and flexibility and everything.”
In her first three classes, dropping on Dec. 25, Fonda boxes with Ludacris in one and brings back those legwarmers for a flashback ’80s aerobics routine in another (yes, she still does them just as well today). In a New Year’s class, the actor leads a disco-themed group workout that sets good intentions for 2025.
The Supernatural app includes over 150 virtual environments and a music library filled with over 3,000 songs, which Fonda had fun exploring as she created her own workout classes. “You put on the headset, and you can be in Machu Picchu or on an island in the Pacific, and you’re totally immersed,” she says.
Below, Fonda opens up about the beginnings of her fitness journey, her go-to workout tunes, and her favorite ways to exercise nowadays.
How did you become interested in fitness at first?
As long as I can remember, I was trying to find ways to regulate my weight and the shape of my body. For women in the ’50s and ’60s, the way you did that was ballet, which was the most rigorous form of physical exercise available to women. There were no such things as gyms for women. Women were not supposed to sweat and have muscles. So from my teens, I studied ballet.
What made you want to enter that field and start teaching workout classes?
I broke my foot at the end of filming The China Syndrome and had very little time to heal, because in my next movie, I had to be in a bikini. My stepmother introduced me to a workout class led by a woman named Leni Cazden. That was essentially what became the Jane Fonda workout. I was floored. I couldn’t believe how effective it was. Then I started studying exercise physiology and opened my own workout.
Tell me about the process of creating your original workout videos.
I just remember sitting on the floor of a hotel room in Canada one winter on vacation writing the script. Without even realizing what we were doing, we created a product that people didn’t know they needed. I can’t pretend that I was like, “There are millions of women who want to be able to stay home and work out without it costing a whole lot of money and without them having to belong to a gym.” I didn’t know anybody that even owned a VCR.
Now, tell me how you crafted these workout classes with Supernatural. How were you inspired by your original videos and what did you want to update?
We wanted to make it retro like my original videos, with the ’80s hair and legwarmers and all of that. Then I wanted to do something with Ludacris, because I lived for a long time in Atlanta, and he became my friend. We figured boxing would be good and we could use his music. Then a woman named Leanne Pedante came over and we worked on choreography.
What workout tunes did you include?
Well, for my ’80s retro workouts, we chose Olivia Newton-John, Madonna, Donna Summer — the famous ones. Also “Got to Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye, “Ladies Night” by Kool & The Gang, and “You Should Be Dancing” by The Bee Gees.
How would you say your approach to fitness has changed over the years?
Slow. The operative word is slower. That’s the difference.
What’s your current favorite way to exercise?
I used to be a runner, but now I love walking. I love being outdoors in the woods, especially up and down hills.
Same. I live in New York, so just walking along the river is the best way to work out.
But Central Park, oh my God, is the best.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.