Jane Fonda Recalls Past Struggles with Body Dysmorphia: 'I Was Pretty Lost as a Young Person' (Exclusive)

The Book Club: The Next Chapter actress says she overcame challenges earlier in life to find joy today

At 85, Jane Fonda is feeling better than ever, but that wasn't the case when she was younger.

The actress and activist, who will next be seen in the comedy Book Club: The Next Chapter, in theaters May 12, overcame a turbulent childhood with her distant father, the late actor Henry Fonda, and socialite mother, Frances, who died by suicide when Fonda was 12 and her brother Peter Fonda was 10.

"Being young is really hard. Don't let anyone kid you," Fonda says in this week's PEOPLE cover story. "I wish when I was younger, someone had said to me, 'Don't give up. Keep going. It'll get better.'"

The Oscar-winning star said she never aspired to be an actress when she was younger.

"Young me did not want to be an actor. I didn't think I had talent. I didn't think I was pretty enough. I had a lot of body dysmorphia," she explains. "I was pretty lost as a young person."

In 1982 Fonda started a fitness revolution when she released Jane Fonda's Workout, based on a class she took from an exercise instructor named Leni Cazden that helped her feel more control over her health after struggling with bulimia. The video sold more than 17 million copies.

"So many women said to me, 'My whole attitude about myself changed,' " says Fonda. "That meant the world to me." Today she exercises three to four times a week with a trainer, goes on hikes and sticks to a healthy diet.

Fonda says one of the main reasons she's happier today is that a lot of the questions she had when she was younger have now been answered.

"Who am I? What am I supposed to do in life? All of that has been answered. I don't take anything for granted, and I'm just amazed that at my age I'm still working and have a lot of energy," she says "It's all a surprise to me."

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