Jane Fonda turned down the Ellen Barkin role in The New Normal!

Smart move, lady.

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• Didn't even know they were in the same age bracket.

• It's a well-intentioned show. I'm glad the creator is having success. I'm glad (out)gay actors are getting roles. For that reason I want it to succeed. That said, I can't stand the show.

• Maybe born-again Jane didn't care to appear on an overtly pro-gay show.

• No, Jane just makes better career decisions. She doesn't need to work. And she was absolutely correct to stay away from this show.

• Right, she's filthy rich and doesn't need the work, so where's the surprise? Get back to us when she *does* decide to be a regular cast member on a series, which will be never. Too much work for an old rich lady.

• Does Ellen Barkin "need" to work? After all, she was married to Ron Perelman of Revlon (worth several billion.) Here is a quote from a HuffPo article about their settlement: "When they divorced, Barkin received a settlement that Perelman's spokeswoman has described as "enormous" but declined to quantify. Barkin also sold off jewelry Perelman gave her at an auction that fetched more than $20 million; she told an interviewer the pieces were "not memories I want to wear out every day." Ellen Barkin is about 10 years younger than Jane Fonda (have not googled the dates). Maybe she just likes to work. Anyway, I'm a straight middle-aged female. FWIW, I enjoy the show, although I think it's very minor and not terribly well-written.

• Ellen Barkin rubs me the wrong way.

• Far less wealthy Jessica Lange needed a lot of convincing to do American Horror Story, and the crucial factor in her decision was that there are only 13 episodes per season. She was completely unwilling to spend 6 months filming a series. So big surprise Jane doesn't want to either.

• Jane must have heard that Atlanta Housewife NeNe Leakes was going to have role. What a pedigree.

• They offered it to Lucille Ball, but she was still dead.

• They offered the role to M so she start dominating the Emmy Awards. Bitch, please.

  G

• This show has already gotten a full-season renewal and is regarded as a winner for NBC. I'm not saying Jane should have done it, that's her business, but not sure why some of you are acting like it's a huge bomb that's hurting everyone involved.

• That show is beneath Jane Fonda. She's Hollywood Royalty, and two-time Oscar winner, and one of the biggest film actresses of her generation.

• R12's right, I've seen the analysis on the TV By The Numbers site, The New Normal is almost certainly going to be renewed. It's just DL's usual hypercritical hysteria about anything gay-related.

• I wish Jane had chosen a better come-back vehicle than Monster-in-Law. I love the way she looks now. She's always been my idol. I just read her bio by Patricia Bosworth. It wasn't very good but it delved into the role Jane's suicidal mother played in her life. Very very sad.

• Jane Fonda for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane!

• Jane's pretty good in The Newsroom.

• R14, you do know a lot about "usual hypercritical hysteria" don't you.

• I love the show, and I hate everything.

• Jane may be born again, but she's still very very liberal. Very pro-gay. There are liberal Christians, and she's one of them. In fact, anybody who understands what Christ was really saying would HAVE to be a liberal if they believed in it.

• Fonda probably realized what a poorly written role it is. It's like the Jane Lynch role in GLEE except the character isn't funny. Just nasty and mean. I can't believe the two gay men put up with her the way they do without letting her have it. The Rannells character went off on that homophobe in the outlet store for much less than Barkin's character has dished out. Getting back to Fonda, did anyone see her last flick PEACE, LOVE, & MISUNDERSTANDING? I heard so-so things about the film, but she was suppsoed to be good in it.

• I'm available. Leave a message for me at the Circle K gas station one mile off Interstate 469.

  Erin Moran

• Jane Fonda doesn't do TV unless it is for cable.

• Didn't she do some movie about dolls that was on ABC?

• Jane Fonda has only done two TV gigs so far. The Dollmaker (which she won an Emmy) and a guest spot on '9 to 5'. From here on then she instructed her agents no TV unless it is for cable.

• I like the show well enough. The little girl is fabulous, and Barkin is doing a great a job with a role that needs to be a bit better written. I'm surprised to hear Jane Fonda was offered the role, but not surprised Barkin may not have been the first choice. I could easily see Christine Baranski or Holland Taylor being approached first (though I guess both have enough work). Cybill Shepherd would probably have been wonderful in the role. Or Ellen Burstyn, who is way better at comedy than she gets credit for, usually. Barkin was a surprising choice. (I can take or leave the three leads at this point. I'm rooting for the series to succeed because...well, just because.) But here's why I decided to post in this thread... Way back when Ellen Barkin was just getting noticed, I was in high school and "Diner" had just been released. There was a glowing profile of her in some magazine (I think maybe Esquire or Rolling Stone). The writer made the point that most successful Hollywood careers have a certain trajectory, and predicted hers might follow the same path: Who's Ellen Barkin? / Get me Ellen Barkin! / Get me an Ellen Barkin type / Get me a young Ellen Barkin / Who's Ellen Barkin? Her career may never have exactly followed that trajectory, but if New Normal lives up to its potential, good for her for staving off anonymity for awhile, or maybe at long last.

• Jane Fonda could be an interesting guest star on "American Horror Story" since she only does t.v. if it is on cable.

• I think Jane Fonda would have just added to the outside drama (with the Utah station not airing The New Normal). She's got her own set of rabid haters as it is. Between that and the constant showing of two gay men in bed together the OMM heads would have exploded. That's probably what Murphy was aiming for. I'm one of those who likes the show as well. I loved the marriage proposal in last weeks episode even if it did include a woman in stirrups in the background.

• Fonda gas said the only reason she did Monsters In Law was for the money. She's comfortable but hardly rich - all her money goes into her charity, which has helped many battered women.

• What's Fonda gas?

  Radical bloating? Natural gas exported from Vietnam?

• R29 Paula Prentiss would have been funny as hell in "Monster in Law" but she is retired.

  The%20Paula%20Prentiss%20Troll

• Everybody is talking about how hateful the character is. Clearly anybody with at least a miniscule amount of intelligence can see where this is going. She's going to fall in love with the baby and change her ways. Happened to my dad. It's going to happen to her.

• [quote]What's Fonda gas? Buttsniffers are fonda gas. They are all over tumblr.

• I'm trying to figure out if r33 is serious or not.

• Barkin is used-up looking, not very bright, and rather dull. Very dull, as a matter of fact. Such an unpleasant combination with preening entitlement and lack of talent.

• Barkin just yells....I can't believe she got a Tony for The Normal Heart. She yelled there too.

• I honestly could not imagine anybody else in the role except for Ellen. She was meant to be on TNN.

• I haven't see the show but I get a kick out of her twitter postings. She goes nuts on them sometimes, very entertaining.