6 Movies Starring Real Life Parents and Children, In Honor of ‘After Earth’ Starring Will and Jaden Smith

Movie #3 – On Golden Pond

Year – 1981

Jane Fonda had a famously tumultuous relationship with her father Henry Fonda. While he was a Democrat some of his best friends (John Wayne, James Stewart) were Republicans. Plus, he was an “emotionally distant” father according to his children. At one point Jane attempted to bond over their love of acting but even that was met reticence. When she asked him how he prepared before going on stage he replied, “I don’t know, I stand there, I think about my wife, Afdera, I don’t know.”

His refusal to talk about his craft was made even more infuriating by the scope of his talent. He seemed to have no understanding of how he did what he did and he had even less desire to investigate. Maybe being “emotionally distant” meant he couldn’t verbalize the emotions required to act. Or perhaps he didn’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Either way, he could be cold.

Jane Fonda purchased the film rights to the On Golden Pond specifically for her and her father to star in. The relationship of the two characters mirrored their own and it was a natural fit. Katharine Hepburn played his wife (amazingly it was not only the first time the two had ever worked together, it was also the first time they had even met.)

The film ended up being Henry Fonda’s final performance and it earned him an Oscar for Best Actor (his first). The film, intended to be a small release, ended up becoming the second highest grossing film of 1981 behind Raiders of the Lost Ark.