For years, Jane Fonda was cast as the girl next door. It made her 'miserable'.

Content warning: This post includes descriptions of disordered eating and suicide that may be distressing to some readers.

In her early years, Jane Fonda's career was going from strength to strength. 

Fonda was a successful actor and had a best-selling workout video. She had been born into a life of privilege - the daughter of famous actor Henry Fonda and Canadian socialite Frances Ford Seymour. 

But behind the scenes, it wasn't picture perfect. 

Watch Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda being interviewed. Post continues below.

This week, Fonda opened up about her struggles with an eating disorder, sharing on the Call Her Daddy podcast that it became a "terrible addiction".

Fonda was often cast as 'the girl next door' - the woman with the 'perfect' hair and body who would always get the guy.

It was a role that made her "miserable".

"I didn't enjoy it, I kept wanting to quit. I never felt like the girl next door, but I know that I kind of looked like it. I was suffering with an eating disorder. I was bulimic/anorexic," she said.

"Suddenly I'm becoming a starlet and there's so much emphasis on how you look. And it was a trigger, a constant, constant trigger for me."

Fonda said her childhood trauma had continued to impact her into her 20s.

Her father had lived with undiagnosed depression, and her mother struggled with mental illness and spent several periods in a psychiatric facility where, in 1950, she took her own life. 

"[Losing a parent] has a big impact on your sense of self," she told People.

"As a child, you always think it was your fault... because the child can't blame the adult, because they depend on the adult for survival. It takes a long time to get over the guilt."

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Fonda said the bulimia was "very, very bad", leaving her unhappy and "leading a secret life".

"I assumed I wouldn't live past 30. I'm 85 now. I didn't go out, I hardly dated, because I was unhappy and had this eating disorder. At the same time I was making movies that I didn't really like," she shared on Call Her Daddy.

"It becomes a terrible addiction that takes over your life. It harms the way you look - you end up looking tired. It makes it impossible to have an authentic relationship when you're doing this secretly. It's a very lonely thing."

Fonda said her 20s and 30s were when the eating disorder was at its worst. By the time she hit her 40s, she began to fear that it was getting "worse and worse".

Not only was her mental health seriously affected, but so was her physical health. At this point, she had children of her own, had been married twice, and wanted to further pursue her activism passions.

So she decided to go "cold turkey". And although it was "really hard", it changed her life. 

"The toll that it takes on you becomes worse and worse. It's not just the fatigue, you become angry and hostile. Then it got to a point in my 40s where I thought if I keep going on like this, I'm going to die. It took me a long time to get over that," Fonda said.

"Early in my life, I never reached out for help. It was a gradual process. In my 30s, 40s, 50s, the mark of maturity was independence."

At the time, it was part of the culture. But for Fonda, she could see that not seeking help wasn't the answer. 

"Eating disorders continue to be a problem with young women. I've worked most of my life to overcome the judgemental objectification and [feeling] that I'm not loveable if I'm not really thin."

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For Fonda, she said a lot of the cause behind her eating disorder was anxiety driven. 

"I've worked at it for 50 years. I'm scared for young women, and I think social media can make it really worse. Getting together with other females to talk about these things [is important]. And when you recognise the shared challenge we're all facing, it helps to say, 'Well f**k this, I'm not going to do it anymore,'" she said.

Now after finding her "purpose in life" through activism, Fonda said recently that for the rest of the time she has left, she wants to make sure all women know that they are enough.

"When I entered my third and final act, I decided that I needed to heal the wounds patriarchy had dealt me," she wrote.

"I didn't want to come to the end of my life without doing all I could to become a whole, full-voiced woman. And I've achieved that."

If you think you may be experiencing depression or another mental health problem, please contact your general practitioner. If you're based in Australia, 24-hour support is available through Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.

For help and support for eating disorders, contact the Butterfly Foundation's National Support line and online service on 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673).

Feature Image: Getty.