Fonda first became involved with the theatre when she was cast in a school production of Harvey. She refused to solicit acting tips and advice from her famous relatives and studied method acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
She made her film debut at the age of five in the 1969 movie Easy Rider as a child in the hippie commune that Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper visit on their trek across the United States. Her second (also non-speaking) bit part was in the 1982 comedy Partners. In 1988 she got her first substantial film role, costarring with John Hurt in Scandal, based on the Profumo affair. That year she also appeared in You Can't Hurry Love and Shag.
Her breakthrough role, however, was as a journalist in The Godfather, Part III. After gaining additional work experience in a few theater productions she was cast in the lead in Barbet Schroeder's Single White Female, followed by a role in Cameron Crowe's ensemble comedy Singles, both in 1992. A review in the New Yorker proclaimed her "provocative, taunting assertiveness", and Rolling Stone said Fonda was "a comic delight". In 1997 Fonda was on the same plane flight as Quentin Tarantino when he offered her the part of a beach babe in Jackie Brown. Fonda was also offered the lead role in the television series Ally McBeal (later accepted by Calista Flockhart), but turned it down to focus on her film career.
Award nominations
* 1990 - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Scandal
* 1997 - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for In the Gloaming
* 2002 - Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television for After Amy
