Peter Fonda: From Easy Rider to Slimey Music Exec

"Terence plays The Limey, I play the Slimey," Peter Fonda chuckles. He speaks of his latest role opposite Terence Stamp in Steven Soderbergh's new film. It's true-slick and once-successful Terry Valentine dirties his hands with drug smuggling and even murder to preserve his comfortable Hollywood Hills lifestyle. On the other hand, Fonda's performance paints the villain ambiguously, making despicable Valentine likeable and ultimately pitiable.

"He's passionate, he has great taste in young women, and he's available, even friendly at the top of the film. Then, you see the arc and how far he has really fallen," says Fonda.

In a brief phone interview from his home in Montana, the 59 year-old actor considered his lengthy and successful career. His first professional stage appearance, on Broadway at the age of 21, earned Fonda rave reviews and several critics' awards. Since then his credits have included the great anti-establishment "road film" Easy Rider (produced, co-scripted and starring Fonda, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay) and 1997's Ulee's Gold (for which Fonda received a Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics Award and the Oscar nomination for Best Actor).

"After Ulee's Gold...again, I am so privileged to have had this opportunity to work [on The Limey] with such a talented director as Steven, with such a great cast."

According to Fonda, the screenwriter Lem Dobbs was developing story and script with Soderbergh for over three years. When first approached, Fonda was informed that the role of Valentine was being developed with him in mind. When he finally read the script, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

Valentine, former '60s record producer, carries himself with an aura of dignity and the nostalgia of one who experienced the myth of that era first hand. For the audience, this performance evokes associations to Fonda's own part in shaping the '60s. Not only remembered for his biker roles, he was once seen as Hollywood's bad boy. Fonda is even said to have inspired the Beatles' "She Said, She Said" by repeatedly telling John Lennon, tripping on acid, "I know what it's like to be dead, man."

Still, Fonda (who once commented on his famed '60s performances: "You can only ride so many motorcycles and smoke so many joints"), is always expanding his repertoire. He stars in a children's film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, scheduled for release next year. Also awaiting release is South of Heaven, West of Hell, also starring his daughter Bridget Fonda, Vincent Gallo, Vince Vaughn, Dwight Yoakam and Billy Bob Thornton. And in last year's memoir Don't Tell Dad, Peter Fonda recollects it all.

One question Fonda seems to anticipate is what it is like belonging to such a famous family. With Henry Fonda as his father, Jane as his sister and Bridget as his daughter, it's no wonder! Without prompting, Fonda makes it clear that he never felt that the Fonda family success rests on Henry's legend. "It's not that Henry was my father or I'm Bridget's dad...the talent in this family is something we are all very proud of."

When Peter Fonda made his Broadway debut, did he have any idea he would still be in the business-a screen star almost 40 years later? He says it was no conscious career choice: "I always knew." But perhaps most inspiring was an early high school performance as the Grover's Corner drunk in Our Town. A few audience members found the part more than convincing. "I can't believe it! Peter's drunk! On stage!" Fonda gasps and laughs. "I loved it. I thought, I can do this. This is what I want to do."