Fonda’s final role takes his full ‘Measure’
Peter Fonda died last summer at age 79 – 50 years after his most famous role, as counterculture icon Wyatt in “Easy Rider.”
Fonda’s final role in “The Last Full Measure” comes to movie screens nationwide Friday with the actor playing a Vietnam veteran dealing with PTSD from the horrors of war.
His wife of eight years, Margaret “Parky” DeVogelaere, says it’s a fitting farewell and a role that deeply moved the actor, the son of Henry Fonda and brother of Jane.
“Peter wanted to die acting. He always used to say his greatest hope for his final moments in the world would be acting. The director would call, ‘That’s a print,’ and he would fall dead to the ground, either on a movie set or stage,” DeVogelaere says. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. But people will remember his final moments in this movie. It was an important role for Peter.”
“Last Full Measure” centers upon the real-life drama surrounding Airman William H. Pitsenbarger Jr. (played by Jeremy Irvine), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2000. The award came more than 30 years after the medic was killed while valiantly aiding and defending soldiers pinned down in an enemy ambush.
Writer/director Todd Robinson says Fonda jumped at the chance to play the traumatized Jimmy Burr, who still can’t sleep at night decades after Pitsenbarger sacrificed his life to save the infantryman and other Charlie Company soldiers in the battle. The Burr role is based on a real anonymous soldier.
Like his “Easy Rider” character, Fonda disagreed with the Vietnam War. But he sympathized with the men sent to fight.
“Peter and I talked a lot about how that generation owed a proper homecoming to those that went to Vietnam. Peter wanted to do his part. Anyone who was alive at that time knew people who went. Some did not return. Those who did return were forever changed,” Robinson says. “He didn’t want to be misunderstood. He believed in his friends that had to go. This performance is really a tribute to them.”
DeVogelaere says Fonda had a strong personal connection to the character, having himself suffered undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder for decades, following childhood traumas that included his mother’s suicide and a near-death incident on his 11th birthday in which he accidentally shot himself in the stomach.
“It left this trauma in him that he couldn’t quite understand, why he’s having these nightmares. They didn’t have a name for it then,” says DeVogelaere.
Fonda eventually was diagnosed and underwent treatment. But the role not only resonated, it also inspired him to show others that PTSD could be successfully managed.
“Taking this part was just a natural for him. Peter had his own war going on his head and heart all the time because of all the things he went through. But he was also a very gentle, peaceful person and had a quiet acceptance of it,” says DeVogalaere. “When he’s offered this role, he goes, ‘This is it. I get this.’ “
Fonda is part of an ensemble of actors who play fellow soldiers in “Last Full Measure,” including Samuel L. Jackson and William Hurt. Fonda’s scenes primarily play out alongside a Washington insider (played by Sebastian Stan) begrudgingly assigned to look into Pitsenbarger’s award commendation.
“Peter just sort of slipped into that skin and committed himself completely to that character,” says Robinson. “Of course, we had no idea we were watching the final frames of this icon’s career.”
About a month before Fonda died, following his diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer, the actor called Robinson and requested to see the just-completed film. DeVogalaere says her husband was emotional as they watched the performance.
After the movie, Fonda silently walked outside the screening room with tears running down his face.
“He couldn’t speak. He just turned and began to walk away,” recalls Robinson, who was unaware Fonda was terminally ill at the time. “I just said, ‘I’d love to have lunch with you, Peter. Can we talk?’ And he put his hand up above his head and sort of gripped a fist as he walked away. He was just so moved by the film. I had no idea how much the role meant to him.”
The filmmaker dedicated the work to Fonda after the actor died.
“To the extent that I had a small part in being able to deliver something that Peter and his family could hold onto on a personal level is just amazing,” says Robinson. “I hope they can someday look at this and realize that it was just a fitting button on an amazing career.”