March 5 (UPI) -- Jane Fonda is sharing how she finds "joy" in activism.
The 83-year-old actress and activist appeared on Thursday's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she discussed her role in a series of 1971 anti-war performances and how activism can be a happy and fun experience.
Fonda was in her 30s when she took part in an anti-Vietnam War roadshow that was captured in the 1972 documentary F.T.A., re-released Friday. The group performed for 60,000 servicemen in Hawaii, the Philippines and Japan.
On The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert showed a clip of Michael Alaimo and Fonda making soldiers laugh while playing then-president Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat Nixon, in a skit during the roadshow. Fonda said screenwriter Dalton Trumbo had advised her to be happy.
"He said, 'Don't forget to be happy,'" Fonda recalled. "Just because you're dealing with a very serious subject and you're trying to end the war doesn't mean that you can't feel joy."
"Activism is joy-filled. It's fun," she said. "You feel good knowing that you're doing everything you can, you've put your whole body on the line."
"Some people think that being an activist means like, 'Eat your broccoli,' but it's actually fun," she added. "And Dalton was reminding us to be happy, because it's contagious."
Fonda also said she's found that laughter allows people to drop their guard and be more receptive to new ideas.
"When I'm writing and I have a writer's cramp, if I can find a way to laugh, ideas come in because my guard is down," she said.
Fonda has continued her activism throughout the decades. She launched Fire Drill Fridays, a recurring event to raise awareness about climate change, in 2019.
In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers in September, Fonda voiced her belief in civil disobedience and its ability to change history.
