A Better Fate Than Wisdom

In [On Golden Pond] the character that I play, Chelsea does a backflip. I wasn’t intending to do the backflip myself. I’m terrified of cold water. I’m terrified of of going over backwards. I didn’t think I could do it, but Katharine Hepburn challenged me, and I remember the flip she did in Philadelphia Story, and thought I’m gonna have to do this. And so I spent a lot of time, painful time learning to do the backflip. And everyday when I wasn’t needed on the set, I would y’know try to go around and end up hurting myself. I was covered with bruises. And finally one day I actually did it. And as I came crawling out of the water, out of the bushes comes Katharine Hepburn. She’d been hiding in the bushes watching me. And she came over to me and said in that shaky voice, “How do you feel?” And I said I feel terrific. She said “You’ve taught me to respect you, Jane.” She said “You conquered your fears. We have to teach our children that. You have to face your fears or else you’ll get soggy.” I’ll never forget that.

(via oldfilmsflicker)