Erotic fiction plays a large role in Book Club, the recently released film starring Jane Fonda, 80, alongside Diane Keaton, Candace Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen.

And as it turns out, the role was quite fitting for Fonda thanks to her own personal interest in erotic fiction. Though, while she shares that she’s certainly a fan of the genre in general, she prefers her erotic reading material a bit more adventurous than the specific novel that was the focus of her movie, Book Club.

Fonda explained, saying, “I’ve read really good pornography. I lived in France for years and I read it when it first came out because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. [Fifty Shades] is not a very good book but I’m glad it was written, and I think it titillated and juicified a lot of women in the United States. That’s a good thing.”

Closing Up Shop

Jane Fonda is known for many things – her Oscar-winning acting skills, her wildly successful fitness videos, her often controversial activism and political views, and of course, for being long regarded as a sex symbol. She is also known for being someone who has never shied away from talking about sex, in both interviews and her books.

Back in 2012, Fonda opened up about her sex life in an effort to shatter the stereotype that once you reach a certain age, sex becomes unenjoyable, saying, “I have never had such a fulfilling sex life (speaking about her relationship with then boyfriend, Richard Perry). Often, when we make love, I see him as he was 30 years ago.”

More recently, Fonda has again been vocal about the fact that intimacy and sex often improve with age rather than diminish, especially for women, saying, “It gets better because we understand our bodies more… We know what we like, and we’re less afraid to ask for it.”

An empowering and profound statement indeed, but also one that was somewhat surprising to fans considering that several months prior, Fonda had broken up with long-time boyfriend, Richard Perry, and announced that she was done with dating and sex.

After three marriages and three grown children, the two-time Oscar winning actress has officially taken herself out of the dating game. She explained by saying, “I have closed up shop down there. Nobody has to keep on being sexual later in life. It should be up to us to make the decision. I am not dating any more. I am 80, and it is only over when you decide it is going to be over.”

And as it turns out, swearing off men seems to be working out well for Fonda who is currently loving life in a luxurious gated retirement community, somewhere that she admittedly never expected to be living, let alone enjoying it so very much.

“I always see one or two other residents who seem infinitely older than I am, but they probably aren’t. I never thought I would ever live there, but it’s great,” says Fonda.

Are you a fan of erotic fiction? What do you think about Jane Fonda taking herself out of the dating game? Share your thoughts and join the conversation below!