Why Bridget Fonda quit Hollywood movie star career as she breaks cover 12 years on

She was once Hollywood's queen of glam but since stepping out of the spotlight 12 years ago Bridget Fonda looks virtually unrecognisable from her movie hey day.

The former actress, who today celebrated her 58th birthday, was spotted near her Los Angeles home looking dramatically different - swapping her ultra glossy long blonde locks for a pulled back pony tail.

The star opted for a black-and-white-striped jersey top and black sweatpants and kept her face makeup free for her trip around town.

But after such a successful stint in the spotlight we take a look at Bridget's career as one of the world's most desirable movie stars to a family life away from the public glare.

Brenda was of course born into the movie world and is part of the famous Fonda acting dynasty appearing in her first film aged five.

She duly followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, the late Oscar-winning screen legend Henry Fonda, as well as those of her Easy Rider star father Peter Fonda.

Even her aunt is actress and fitness guru Jane Fonda, 84. Her father Peter died at 79 in 2019.

But her family fame played heavy on her mind as she questioned her right to be part of the inner circle of movie greats and her own self-confidence as a star.

“I wonder what kind of satisfaction I would have with where I am now if I wasn’t part of a family that has done such phenomenal work,” Fonda told Movieline for a cover story in 1993.

“I wonder what it would feel like to know that you’ve made it completely under your own steam. I sometimes wonder if I would be more at peace if I could know I made it by myself, instead of always wondering how many times my name got me in the door.”

She appeared in a number of critically-acclaimed films like Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, and she is also a two-time Golden Globe nominee.

Fonda’s biggest movie was the lead in 1992 thriller Single White Female. She is also known for her roles in The Godfather Part III in 1990, Singles in 1993, Point of No Return in 1993, It Could Happen to You in 1994, and Jackie Brown in 1997. Her last role was in a TV film called Snow Queen in 2002.

Between 1987 and 1998, she consistently made three to four films a year—more than 30 in all, over a relatively abbreviated period.

The blonde beauty quit Hollywood in 2003 and although not confirmed at the time, she struggled after a bad car accident left her with back injuries.

Reports at the time suggested she simply burned out after starting her career so young and with such high expectations on her status due to her acting legacy.

It is said that her accident, combined with her son’s birth a year later, led her to retire from acting and focus on being a mother after marrying former Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman, now 68.

Their son, Oliver, 17, was born in 2004.

Until now, Fonda was last photographed publicly in 2009 while attending the premiere of Tarantino's World War II epic Inglorious Basterds, having stepped out of the spotlight to focus on raising her son at the family's ranch in Santa Barbara.

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