The Stunning Transformation Of Jodie Foster
When you think of child stars who went on to be incredibly successful, Jodie Foster likely tops the list. In her 50-plus years as an actor, she's won over 60 awards for her work, including Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes. Foster has come incredibly far since her early start in the '60s, going from a humble young actor on television to a world-famous movie star in just a matter of years. But despite her icon status today, she is known to keep a relatively private life, and there's so much you still probably don't know about her.
"There is a meta-weirdness to having been a public figure from the time you were young, right? Especially if you have stayed being an actor," she told The Guardian in a January 2024 interview. Foster has not only become one of the most famous actors of our time, but she has done so by overcoming the trials and tribulations that often accompany child stardom and may not have been so successful if she hadn't established herself in the industry so early.
Whether you've been following her career since her controversial breakout role in "Taxi Driver," fell in love with her portrayal of Clarice Starling opposite Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs," or admired her acting chops on "True Detective," Foster has been part of several classics and established herself as one of the greats. Having now spent decades in the limelight, here's the stunning transformation of Jodie Foster.
Jodie Foster started her career at 3 years old
Jodie Foster is one of the lucky few child actors who went on to make it as an adult, and it all started when she was just 3 years old. She made her television debut during a Coppertone tanning oil commercial in 1965 and continued to star in commercials over the next four years before landing her first television role. This introduction to acting eventually led Foster toward a lengthy career, and she had her mother Brandy Foster to thank, as she served as her first manager. Speaking on the CBS show "Who's Who," the young actor explained, "[My mom has] asked me about a thousand times, 'Do you wanna be an actress?' And I could have always said no. But I don't. It's fun."
While she may have dealt with things other kids never had to think about, Foster has attributed her early start as one of the reasons she became so successful in show business. As Foster explained to Net-a-Porter in a July 2018 interview, "The weird cauldron that made me — working from the time I was 3 years old, supporting my family by the time that I was 7, super-strong mom, overconfident personality, celebrity young enough that I learned to be standoffish."
She began appearing on television in the late '60s
At just 7 years old, Jodie Foster made her first appearance on a television show, booking a one-off appearance on "The Doris Day Show" in 1969. She continued working on episodes of shows like "Nanny and the Professor," "Mayberry R.F.D.," and "My Three Sons," building up her experience and filmography. But as talented as Foster was, working as a child actor wasn't always easy for her. As she explained to Parade magazine in 2008, "Being a child prodigy is lonely. I was one of them. You're different from other kids. No one else can understand," she remarked (via Daily Mail).
By 1972, she had already appeared in a couple of TV movies, but a 10-year-old Foster had finally landed her first theatrical release, "Napoleon and Samantha," about two children and their pet lion. Filming the movie will be something the actor always remembers because she unfortunately endured a traumatic incident on set. While speaking on "The Jonathan Ross Show" in 2017, Foster recounted the incident, saying, "[The lion] came around me and he picked me up by the hip and turned me around and shook me around." Thankfully, neither Foster nor her mother let the incident scare her away from acting, and the young star continued working in television through 1975.
Jodie Foster was 12 when she got her big break
At just 12 years old, Jodie Foster was cast in Martin Scorsese's crime drama, "Taxi Driver," playing Iris, a victim of child sexual abuse (then seen as a young prostitute), opposite the legendary Robert De Niro. It was a controversial role, given her age, but it landed her an Oscar nomination for best actress in a supporting role, and her career skyrocketed exponentially. While Foster had previously worked with Scorsese on the 1974 movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," she learned quickly that "Taxi Driver" would be a completely different experience.
In an April 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Foster explained, "As a kid, I thought it would be a job like all the others, but when I got there, I realized it was creating a character from scratch, which I'd never done before." She added that she and De Niro would often work on their lines together, and despite finding him boring while he was in character, she said, "[I]n those few outings, he really helped me understand improvisation and building a character in a way that was almost nonverbal."
Foster's incredible performance, despite the role's controversy, gained the young actor an enormous amount of recognition, and she starred in four other movies that same year. Little did she know that this was just the beginning of a successful, decades-long movie career.
She shot to fame practically overnight
1976 was an incredibly successful year for Jodi Foster, who was just 14 when she catapulted to fame following the release of films like "Taxi Driver," "Bugsy Malone," and "Freaky Friday." She became a household name practically overnight and was even invited to host "Saturday Night Live" that same year. Speaking with Interview Magazine in December 2023, Foster noted that the experience wasn't exactly glamorous, saying, "They had me do weird things on 'SNL' because I was a kid and they couldn't figure out what to do with me. ... So the show was a little awkward."
Looking back at her time as a newly famous teenager during her interview, Foster added that she had an awkward transition, saying, "The years between 14 to 16, you've got all those pimples on your forehead, you don't know what to do with your hands, your legs are really long, but your torso looks funny."
Unfortunately, Foster wasn't able to hide her awkward teen phase from the world, as everyone wanted a piece of her. During a January 2021 New York Times interview, she said, "I grew up in the film business, and I thought making films was the most meaningful thing anyone could do. ... And the world around me kept confirming that. That confirmation was a little like a steroid where you keep taking more and you're like, I like the way that looks."
Jodie Foster studied at Yale
Jodie Foster had been famous for most of her life by the time she embarked on her Ivy League education at Yale University in 1980. She continued to work on a handful of projects during her time as a student, like "O'Hara's Wife" and "The Hotel New Hampshire," in order to fund her tuition and support her family, but the actor was equally dedicated to her studies. When Foster arrived on campus, as she explained in a 1984 interview, the first thing on her mind was, "To be like everybody else, and the wonderful lesson that I realized is that I'm not. And neither is anyone else." Foster graduated magna cum laude in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in literature.
In April 2019, she returned to her alma mater to speak with Yale College Council President Matthew Guido about her experience, saying, "Yale for me is lying on the floor of my dorm room, crying and crying and crying, but it's also going to one of the tops of those towers with beer in my hand going like, 'Woo, woo, woo!' The darkness and the ecstatic-ness. That's part of this moment in time in your life, and that's what makes it so special."
Foster revealed that she nearly gave up acting for good after graduating from Yale because she battled imposter syndrome, but thankfully stuck with it and earned her first Oscar in 1989 for her role in "The Accused."
She was stalked while in college
Jodie Foster made the most of her college experience while studying at Yale, attending freshman events, going to games, and performing in plays. However, she also experienced a few terrifying events during these years, including having a stalker. After John Hinckley Jr. watched "Taxi Driver," he developed an obsession with Foster and followed her to Connecticut when she began attending Yale. He began leaving love notes at her home, which she ignored, and calling her phone. Eventually, in March 1981, Hinckley wrote a note detailing his plans to assassinate President Reagan, though he never mailed it to Foster.
"Jodie, I would abandon this idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you, whether it be in total obscurity or whatever. I will admit to you that the reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I just cannot wait any longer to impress you," the letter said. Hinckley shot and injured President Reagan, and after getting arrested, a photograph of Foster was discovered in his possession.
In December 1982, the actor penned an article for Esquire titled "Why Me?" in which she detailed her feelings toward her stalker. "Strangers had scrutinized and analyzed me without my permission, even without my knowledge. No, the Hinckley ordeal did not destroy my anonymity; it only destroyed the illusion of it," she wrote.
Jodie Foster transitioned to more adult roles in the '80s
Like many young stars who strive to continue working as adults, Jodie Foster had to prove she was more than a child actor. In speaking with W Magazine in January 2024, she remarked, "The biggest transition was going from being a young person, to college, and then becoming an adult actor. The work that I did between 16 and 22 — that is the most awkward place." Although Foster had been known to take on more complex characters as a child, she began transitioning into more adult roles after she graduated from Yale.
In the late '80s, Foster began portraying adult characters, including a rape victim in "The Accused." While very few of the movies she made during this time were smash hits, the projects she picked helped show what she was capable of as she entered her mid-to-late 20s.
During her July 2018 interview with Net-a-Porter, Foster explained that it was her unique upbringing that set her apart from other actors her age. "I think there's a whole bunch of reasons why I didn't have the same path as someone who came to Hollywood at 22 with two cents in her pocket and just wanted more than anything else to be an actor. It's just a different life. ... [T]here is a carpet of ex-child actors who did not make it," she said.
She was praised for her role in The Silence of the Lambs
In 1991, Jodie Foster starred opposite the legendary Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs," perhaps her most gripping film yet. It swept up several Academy Awards and remains a classic among fans of psychological horror. Foster won her second Oscar for best actress in a leading role for her portrayal of detective Clarice Starling, an impressive feat given she was up against Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Geena Davis, and Laura Dern. During her acceptance speech, the actor said, "I'd like to dedicate this award to all of the women who came before me who never had the chances that I've had, and the survivors, and the pioneers, and the outcasts, and my blood, my tradition."
In speaking with Vanity Fair in February 2021, Foster enthused that she is still very much a fan of "The Silence of the Lambs" to this day and still appreciates being recognized for her role. "I do love it when people will say, 'Can I get you a nice Chianti?' I still love it. And there's no part of me that'll ever be tired of it. Mostly because it's just such a damn good movie," she said.
Jodie Foster's sexuality was often scrutinized
The media has always been known to speculate on the private lives of celebrities, and Jodie Foster's sexuality was no different. Although the actor had been in a relationship with Cydney Bernard, a female film producer, since 1993, the two never walked the red carpet together or appeared publicly as a couple during their 15-year relationship. Before the exes split in 2008, they had two sons together, Charles and Christopher, and Foster has never revealed who their biological father is. She has now been married to photographer and director Alexandra Hedison since 2014.
For such a public figure, the "Panic Room" star has remained incredibly private about her life — that is, up until her "coming out" speech at the 2013 Golden Globes, in which she made a tongue-in-cheek reference to her sexuality. "I just have a sudden urge to say something that I've never really been able to air in public. ... [It's] a declaration that I'm a little nervous about, but maybe not quite as nervous as my publicist right now ... I'm just going to put it out there, loud and proud. ... I'm single," Foster said. She added that there wouldn't be a "big coming out speech" because she had already come out to the people in her life whom she knows personally and that she doesn't need to give the public much more.
She's also worked as a director and producer
You probably know Jodie Foster primarily for her work in front of the camera, but she's also worked as a director since 1978 (starting with a short film called "The Hands of Time") and as a producer since 1985. Since then, she has directed episodes of several TV shows, including "House of Cards," "Orange Is the New Black," and "Black Mirror," as well as movies like "Little Man Tate," "The Beaver," and "Money Monster."
While she's certainly directed far more projects than many other actors, Foster admitted to IndieWire in a June 2018 interview that her biggest regret is that she hadn't done more directing. "If I have an apology to make for my whole career ... [it's that] I didn't make as many movies as I was hoping I would. ... I do regret that I didn't direct more in all those years, that I only managed to direct four movies in the course of 30 years or something. That's just ridiculous, but I got busy. I had kids. I had a company. I was acting," she explained. That said, Foster added that she's still optimistic she'll return to directing in the future and that she still has more to offer.
Jodie Foster has appeared in fewer roles over the years
In 1973, a young Jodie Foster added eight acting credits to her resume. As she grew in popularity, there were very few years in which the actor hadn't starred in anything. But as time has gone on, her appearances on-screen have dwindled in number. Between 2014 and 2024, Foster has had just five roles, including on "True Detective," in which she returned to acting on a television show for the first time since the '70s.
In a February 2021 interview with Shondaland, Foster acknowledged her lack of work in recent years. "Your career slows down as you get older. There are less roles for older people. Less roles for older women. And I knew that was coming. It wasn't like it was a surprise. My mom prepared me for this when I was 12 years old. She was like, 'When you're 40, you'll never work again.' It's not really a surprise, and you kind of just roll with it," she said.
Despite the fact that Hollywood's ageism has been a prominent topic of discussion for older female actors, Foster is now in her 60s and an undeniable staple in the industry. It can definitely be argued that many of the projects she has taken on in the past decade have been better reviewed than some of her past projects, so perhaps Foster is taking advantage of her status and simply selecting her roles more carefully than she used to.
She's become one of the greats
Having worked with legends like Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Anthony Hopkins, David Fincher, and so many more throughout her life, how Jodie Foster studied and refined her craft as both an actor and director is easy to understand. After nearly six decades in the public eye with hardly a controversial incident, she's become a beloved figure and one of the greats in Hollywood.
Foster has long established herself in Hollywood and truly has nothing left to prove. In her November 2023 Interview article, she spoke on the freedom she feels at this point in her career. "Somehow, it's so much more satisfying to be a part of a team that's doing something awesome than it is to be all on your own trying to jump up that hill and make something out of nothing while everybody's like, 'Is it going to open well?' And the pressure I had being a leading lady? Gosh, it all disappears the minute you say, 'No.' It's shocking how great that is," Foster remarked.
Rather than continuing down the same path, it seems Foster is ready to lend her expertise to others, similarly to how De Niro mentored her as a kid. "It's someone else's time. ... And there's something amazing about acting in my 60s and supporting other people. I think I enjoy it more than anything I've ever done," she told Elle in a November 2023 interview.