Timehost: Hello everyone! Welcome to the TIME room tonight to talk to Peter Fonda. Peter Fonda will be appearing live at the Avignon New York Film Festival at the French Institute in New York City. The film festival is showing his 1979 feature "Wanda Nevada." He stars in it and directed it. It's a modern day western; in the story he wins a 13 year old Brooke Shields in a poker game. Henry Fonda also appeared in the movie.

Timehost: Peter Fonda has joined us in chat room.

Timehost: Thanks for joining us.

Peter Fonda: Thank you, I'm very happy to be here.

harley_rider_girl asks: Do you have any work in the near future that we should keep a look out for?

Peter Fonda: I have a childrens' film coming out in June. And I have a film that I'll be shooting in South Africa. And if you thought I was a bad guy in other movies, he's a really bad guy. He uses human flesh for making leather seats. It's quite a bit different from the children's film.

guinness408 asks: Mr. Fonda... I am a fan of yours, as well as a fan of your father. How did his success shape your career?

Peter Fonda: I wasn't really aware that my father was working for quite a while. I thought it was my mother who had all the money. My dad never gave me any advice about the theater. That's what I was trained for -- the theater. And it was Moss Hart who gave me advice. That advice was: when you step on stage the first time, speak your first words clearly. You can mumble the rest of the play, but the audience will be sure that they can hear you. But if you come on stage and mumble your first words, no matter how clearly you speak the rest of the play, the audience will be sure they don't hear you. I wondered whether Moss Hart thought I would try to be like Marlon Brando and try to do the play with marbles in my mouth. Brando's a family friend. His mother gave my father a shot to be in a play at the Omaha Community Playhouse. That was the first production he was in. I never saw Bud (we called him Bud -- that's what everyone calls a Jr. in the midwest -- he's Marlon Brando Jr.) act with marbles in his mouth, so I wasn't sure where he was going with that one. I also worked in that same stage, until they moved it to a new location, in the 1960's.

HELL__BLAZER asks: What was the toughest role you've ever played?

Peter Fonda: What is the meaning of the word "tough"?

Timehost: What was the most satisfying role?

Peter Fonda: Tough and satisfying are oxymorons. The most satisfying role I've done is "Ulee's Gold."

dthomasc_2000 asks: If there was a re-make of Easy Rider, would it bother you?

Peter Fonda: No, it wouldn't bother me at all. To me, it would be foolishness to try.

harley_rider_girl asks: Easy Rider was a controversial film for it's time, did you have any worries about accepting the role?

Peter Fonda: I wrote it. I wrote the story, co-wrote the screenplay. Was nominated for an Academy Award.

tb52855n asks: Kind of a general question, but Peter, what do you think the 'we blew it' line from Easy Rider meant? I wrote a paper on it once...

Peter Fonda: If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Seriously, take a look around, and tell me we haven't blown it right now, today, this second. I've purposely remained enigmatic about that line.

hogwild_37748 asks: What is the true story behind what happened to Captain America's bike?

Peter Fonda: We burned one on film. The other Capt. America and the two Billy bikes were in the garage of our chief mechanic in Simi Valley. All 14 motorcylces were stolen from his garage two weeks before we finished filming. If one is to watch the film again, one would notice that at the last campfire, there is no motorcycle or hint of a motorcycle. If you understand anything about stolen vehicles, the engine went one direction, the frame went another way, and the guy who ended up with the gas tank, when he saw the movie next year, he must've said, "Oh, f***!" Some people have said that it's a tragedy, but I say that it's a scattering of the ashes. There must be five or seven people riding around with a part of the original bike and dont even know it.

thorntonater asks: Did you do LSD for real in the movie Easy Rider?

Peter Fonda: No.

harley_rider_girl asks: How do you feel about Jack Nicholson's character being killed in Easy Rider?

Peter Fonda: It's a dramatic device that satisfies several different requirements. Fist of all, in any good travelling western, some of the characters die. And once we have killed Jack, who was the most identifiable person in the film for those who don't know anything about marijuana, he was an alcoholic. To move the drama, we kill Jack and the audience has two choices -- me or Hopper. I was counting on the fact that Hopper playing an LA speed freak would ensure that the audience would turn to my character.

bloodflowers666 asks: What do you think about the drug use in the 60's?

Peter Fonda: I really think that most of the people who tried LSD did it for the wrong reasons. Most of the drugs that were made were not really LSD -- they were some sort of type of LSD. I thought that was an abused drug in that it was never meant for a person to drop and then go walking down the street, watching things fall down on you. It was designed for you to look inside yourself. Quite a liberating experience if you can pull it off. And cocaine was not really happening. In terms of what do I think about drugs in the sixties, and why would I have such a casual attitude, it took us quite a long time to find out that we had been lied to by our parents' generation. The moralities that were followed during our parents' generation were basically arbitrary morals. This false morality caused a tremendous rift between the two generaations, which was brought on by the beatniks. By example, Bob Dylan is out of the mentorship of Allen Ginsberg, and myself from all the beatniks and jazz musicians that I knew as a young man in my teens and as a young man. Think about this: on the side of the B-52 bombers, that were constantly in the air from the mid-50's to the mid 60's, while flying a triangular pattern for refuel, each carried enough hydrogen bombs in it to obliterate a country our government said did not exist -- that's China. To prove the point to the rest of the school I was in, I went around to every map and cut out China, carefully. On the side of those aircraft was the shield and motto of the Strategic Air Command: the shield, inside of which is a clenched fist, holding a lightning bolt, and the banner below said: "Peace is our Profession." That's our parents.

Pope_12 asks: Hi peter. I would like to just tell you that I have only seen one of your films: Ulee's Gold. It was a great peformance. I would like to know your thoughts about making it. Thank you so much.

Peter Fonda: It was a brilliant script, beautifully written by Victor Nunez, brilliantly directed by Victor Nunez, brilliantly shot by Victor Nunez, and brilliantly edited by Victor Nunez. It was all on the page. I was lucky I got to play the role.

Timehost: Your film Wanda Nevada shows at the Avignon New York film festival. Your directed it, and your father was in it.

harley_rider_girl asks: Was it hard directing your father?

Peter Fonda: Not at all. He was an extraordinary actor. I acted in the film with him. The neat part was acting with him. He said "I dont know why you do that, son, I dont know why you give yourself that kind of trouble." But for me there was no trouble. After we finished his scene, he wrote me a letter saying that in his 41 years of making motion pictures, he had never seen a crew so devoted to their director, nor a director so devoted to his crew. "You are a very good director, son, and I love you very much. You dad." He had never used those words with me before. I passed that letter around the company. For without the company, the letter would never have been written.

theendcafe asks: You've always played a man in search of his identity (Easy Rider, Ulee's Gold). Do these roles reflect who you are as a person?

Peter Fonda: No.

Pope_12 asks: Mr Fonda, did you have a favorite director you liked working with?

Peter Fonda: Victor Nunez. And Steven Soderbergh is a close second. And I like working with myself. I have the knack for it. And when I'm working in a scene, I really know whether it's working or not. However, this summer, I will be directing a small, character driven story, low-budget, and I hope I can deliver as good as Victor Nunez. I'm not acting in that show. I'm just directing -- a hired gun.

amy90265 asks: Peter, I rode in the limo with you to the premiere of The Limey in Cannes '99. My question is, how do you feel about our movie being overlooked completely at the IFP awards?

Peter Fonda: I was incensed outraged, tore my card up and burned it. But then I realized, that if you have to carry a card, you're not an independent.

bemccabe asks: Where do you stand on the issues surrounding the WTO??

Peter Fonda: I don't trust anybody who didn't inhale. Remember that Alan Greenspan was a member of Ayn Rand's collective. To understand this is to understand why we are doomed with the Federal Reserve.

Jawshwa asks: Do you think that the entertainment business in general as changed dramatically over the years?

Peter Fonda: Absolutely. We've become much more realistic with our movies and plays. It's become much more serious. We play them in a much more real way. For someone like me, I watched Jimmy Dean, Montgomery Clift, and Bud Brando, and they were very different from Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Everything's changed.

Jawshwa asks: You've done pretty much everything that a actor/producer/entertainer could want to do, is there anything left to pursue?

Peter Fonda: Make it perfect. Working until I hear the words "that's a wrap on the scene, wrap on the film" Thud! What happened to Fonda? I want to die in the saddle. I love writing, producing, acting, directing.

bestboy69_2000 asks: How can we actually know you are the real Peter Fonda?

Peter Fonda: I said to George Harrison, "I know what it's like to be dead And John Lennon said to me, who put all that sh** in your head You know you're makiing me feel like I've never been born. I said when I was a boy, I shot myself. It was an accident, and I died on the operating table and I suffered from a massive loss of blood, and I my heart stopped. So I died three times on the operating table And hence was written the song: She Said, She Said.

bluesman353 asks: Mr. Fonda, you partied with the Beatles. Did you like them?

Peter Fonda: Yes.

steve99_ie asks: Were you devestated when John Lennon was shot?? How close were the two of you??

Peter Fonda: We were not close at all. Lennon was not very fond of me. Lennon didn't like to be around somebody else who was likely to be the center of attention. And Lennon didn't like being on deck with somebody who was intellectually as hot as he was. But the rest of the lot remained friends of mine. And I truly miss the genius of the music of John Lennon, as I'm sure everybody does.

dreamlover_555 asks: How did you get to be such a hunk?

Peter Fonda: You noticed! Just luck.

Rev_monday asks: Peter, who do you think are the rebels of today's young? I'm from Canada and was in San. Fran last year and was shocked to find a Gap Store on the corner of Haight and Ashbury.

Peter Fonda: We blew it. Rebels today? Johnny Depp. Nick Cage. Myself. Neal Young. David Crosby. Graham Nash. The young fearless directors who against all odds will go and lay their d*** on the table to do what they want. The poets who are wiling to strike out and contribute to making a better life for all, instead of just sitting down and accepting what is served to them.

Jawshwa asks: In your eyes, what is the main key to standing the test of time in this day and age?

Peter Fonda: Your abilities to change with time and remain true to your inner self. To continue to produce quality ideas, quality life, quality work.

robert24aqu asks: Do you ever plan to collaborate with Dennis Hopper again?

Peter Fonda: Who?

brooke_thebrunette asks: How do you feel you've evolved from the young new actor on the scene to the actor you are now?

Peter Fonda: Starting out as the doctor in Tammy and the Doctor, being told I have to kiss Tammy with a closed mouth, to writing a character like the one in Easy Rider... that's quite a move from going to Tammy to writing an American pop culture icon. If getting out from under the shadow of Henry Fonda was difficult, getting out from under that shadow was even harder. My abilities grow with each job. Whether it's writing, or writing and directing. When I stop learing, I'll stop working. Which goes along with hitting the dirt after hearing, that's a wrap, or hitting the stage when the curtain hits, drops, and not getting back up.

Timehost: Thanks for joining us. It's been a real pleasure.

Peter Fonda: Thank you all for coming to this chat room, it's been a great enjoyment for me. Hopefully, some of you are in the New York area, and will come to see the New York Avignon Film Festival. Wanda Nevada will be screened on the 28th and 29th. And I'll be there to answer questions.

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