Jane Fonda is not afraid of dying.

That’s what the award-winning actress told the audience at Franklin Hills Country Club, gathered for a Sept. 18 “Heart to Heart” fundraising event hosted by Corewell Health. Fonda was the keynote speaker at the event, held in support of women’s heart health, and she talked about love, life and aging gracefully, offering some wisdom learned through her long career.

Fonda, 86, has enjoyed a career spanning over six decades and holds two Academy Awards and seven Golden Globes. She launched her career as a dramatic actor in the 1970s with her roles in “Klute” and “Coming Home” and has a long history of activism, supporting environmental and anti-war causes.

Fonda spoke about what it’s like to live through the “third act” of her life.

“Third acts are really important,” she said. “I know that as an actor, you can go to a play and the first and second act, you’re thinking … what is this play about? And then along comes the third act and it’s like, ‘I get it.’ I wanted my third act to make sense of the odd life I’ve had for the first two acts.”

For Fonda, part of that third act involves not being afraid to reinvent herself. She described leaving a comfortable marriage with Ted Turner in her 60s, realizing she needed to start over to become whole. She’s recently started therapy and wants to regret as little as possible.

“One of the things you have to do between now and death is be sure that you make up for the things that you need to ask forgiveness for and you try to live a better life,” she said.

The actress also reflected on memorable moments in her legendary career, describing her long friendship with actress and frequent co-star Lily Tomlin. Fonda said she first saw Tomlin when she performed a one-woman show about a cast of characters liv

ing in an apartment building in Detroit.

Fonda also shared a story from her time on set with Katharine Hepburn. She recounted struggling through a difficult scene in a film with her father and spotting Hepburn hiding in the bushes nearby, mouthing, “You can do it.”

Fonda lives a healthy lifestyle. She’s active, works out and sleeps nine hours a night. When TV news anchor and event emcee Carolyn Clifford asked Fonda what she does to relax, the actress didn’t have an answer.

“I don’t get tired,” she said.

And she’s still acting. She starred in three films last year, including “80 for Brady,” which focused on four lifelong New England Patriots fans who travel to see Tom Brady play in Super Bowl LI.

“I thought it was a lovely afternoon,” said Julie Marx, who said she appreciated Fonda’s stories about growing up and growing old.

Attendee Susan Seklar said Fonda was a “phenomenal speaker.”

“I think she says that you have to pause in your life and reflect back on it so that you can improve,” Seklar said.

Despite her active lifestyle, Fonda is open about her age and considers herself lucky to be old. She’s blunt about how she wants to go, telling the audience she doesn’t want to “hang around too long.”

“I thought I was going to die at 35,” she said. “I’m so happy that I was wrong. I feel very lucky.”

Fonda has a positive outlook, but said she doesn’t consider herself an optimist because optimism doesn’t necessarily involve action. Instead, she’s hopeful.

“Hope is a muscle,” she said. “Hope comes with action. I take action and so I feel hopeful.”