Jane Fonda given emotional standing ovation ahead of pointed SAG speech during Lifetime Achievement honor

Award shows are always special, but these 31st annual SAG Awards were extra special for the one and only Jane Fonda.

On Sunday night, the legendary actress and activist was honored with the 60th SAG Life Achievement Award, SAG-AFTRA’s highest tribute.

Following in her father Henry Fonda’s footsteps, the Barbarella actress, a two-time Academy Award winner, made her screen debut in 1960’s Tall Story, after spending much of the late 1950s doing theater work.

Other recent recipients of the award include Barbra Streisand, Sally Field, Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Alan Alda, Morgan Freeman, and Jane’s longtime friend and frequent collaborator Lily Tomlin.

Jane, 87, was introduced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and upon walking up to the stage, she xx

Jane, 87, was introduced by Julia Louis-Dryfus, who praised her fantastic life in and out of the screen, her more than 65 years working as an actress, and described her as a “powerhouse of raw dramatic talent.”

“In her work as in her life she has always been daring, controversial, and definitional,” she added, pointing to moments such as her role in Barbarella, her iconic 1970 mug shot, and being on the famously paranoid former President Richard Nixon’s enemies list.

After a video montage of some of her most impactful roles immediately sparked a standing ovation, Jane, in her speech, first said: “This means the world to me.”

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“Your enthusiasm makes it seem, I don’t know, less like the twilight of my life and more like a ‘Go girl kick ass,’ which is good because I’m not done,” she went on, adding how she has “had a really weird career,” retiring for 15 years, returning at 65, and having some of her biggest success in her 80s.

“It’s okay to be a late bloomer as long as you don’t miss the flower show. I’m a late bloomer, and this is the flower show,” she noted.

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True to her nature, Jane went on to remind the audience and viewers of the importance of fighting back amid trying times and threats against democracy, pointing to the fact that she made her first movie around the time of McCarthyism and blacklisting in Hollywood, which cost so many their careers.

The SAG Awards this year were live streamed on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall. For more special moments of the night, stay up to date with our live updates, and for more red carpet photos, check out our best dressed list here, or our favorite beauty moments here.

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They are the latest round of a long line of award shows that have kept A-List celebrities busy and our social media feeds full of glamorous red carpet photos, and the last big show before the biggest of them all, the Oscars, which are next Sunday, March 2.

Some of the SAG nominees were Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, Timothée Chalamet, Pamela Anderson, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, and Adrien Brody, among others, and films such as A Complete Unknown, Anora, Conclave, Wicked, and Emilia Pérez.