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Forty years and many films later, the 9 to 5 stars still have “a soft spot for each other”.

Their chemistry with Netflix’s Grace and Frankie is electrifying, and Lily credits it to her real friendship with the other leading lady to the series, none other than Jane Fonda, 2021 Golden Globe winner Cecil B. DeMille. “People say we have a lot of chemistry. That’s because you can sense Jane and I have been friends for so long. We have a soft spot for each other, “Lily told Oprah.com shortly after the Netflix show premiered.

The” long “friendship she speaks of spans decades and extends into the late 1970s back. Just a few years before they got together on 9-5, Jane saw Lily perform on her one-woman Broadway show Appearing Nitely and knew then and there that she wanted to put Lily in her new movie. “I just couldn’t believe there were so many people living in this amazing body,” recalled Jane during an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I totally changed the idea for 9 to 9 because of her. I said, ‘I don’t want to do a secretaries movie if she’s not there.'”

At the time the film was written as a drama, but Jane feared that he would be viewed as “too preaching, too feminist”. But when she saw Lily’s comedic genius in action, Jane realized two things: “I couldn’t do 9 to 5 without Lily Tomlin, and second, it had to be a comedy,” she said while honoring Lily at the Kennedy Center Honors a year 2014.

Although Lily was a fan of Jane (she told the Washington Post that she had the “clod hairstyle” for two years after Jane’s 1971 thriller), she was concerned about being in a “cheap comedy” to play along. After a year of conviction, she signed with Violet Newstead – just so she could stop a week after shooting began. “She asked my production partner to let her go and she would give the week back,” Jane said during an interview on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After going through some of the unedited footage, Lily changed her mind and “asked” Jane to take them back – and the rest is movie history.

But for Lily and Jane, the film’s success went beyond box office records and Golden Globe nominations. it was the foundation of their lifelong friendship. “We’ve been friends since then. We’re friends because I just love her. I know Jane has my back whenever she can,” Lily told the Washington Post.

When they were offered the opportunity to work together on a Netflix show nearly four decades later, they immediately said yes – no questions asked. In the seventh and final season, Grace and Frankie tell the story of two ex-rivals who make each other their greatest support system after their husbands fall in love. When asked what they love most about Grace and Frankie during a BUILD interview, Jane said, “I love working with her [Lily]. I love this woman and I admire her.” p> Over the years they have become an example of strong female friendship and even got her to hold a TED talk on the subject in 2015. When they’re not on set together, they always find their way back to each other. Lily often accompanies Jane, a longtime activist, on marches and protests across the country. In December 2019, they were arrested at one of Jane’s “Fire Drill Friday” protests, urging politicians to focus on the growing climate crisis.

Rest assured, even if your time with Grace and Frankie comes to an end, they will enjoy their time together without lights or cameras. “I miss her when I’m not with her,” Jane said of Lily during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “She does and I miss her,” joked Lily.