She received countless awards and millions of fees, played in films that entered the history of cinema, changed her profession and proved her worth in a new one. She conquered Hollywood peaks and became the embodiment of success. Meeting with Jodie Foster, who, nevertheless, prefers to live in a casual style.
Oscar nominations (two) and four statuettes. Eight nominations for a Golden Globe and three Globes, including for «exceptional contribution.» Another fifty different prizes and half a century of a career in cinema … And here is this woman sitting in front of me in a spacious armchair in the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles — small, thin, fragile. Zero make-up, wrinkles, a black collarless sweater, tight jeans, black low shoes with laces.
In a massive, light-colored upholstery chair, she looks like a modest black comma standing alone on an empty white line. Like she wants to take up as little space as possible. I would feel pity if I didn’t feel admiration — her incredibly clear blue eyes, her strong-willed acute Anglo-Saxon face, her beauty — completely, as it turned out, does not depend on age and is not spoiled by wrinkles or fatigue. And fatigue, of course, is noticeable — Foster is finishing the film «Money Monster», her main, as she says, directorial act …
She generally gives reasons for admiration. Why does a beautiful woman not enjoy the benefits of her star position — and not only at her current 53 years old, but also did not aspire before? I am interested to know the answer to this question, although it seems to concern the external …
Psychologies: You clearly eschew the chic Hollywood lifestyle. I hardly remember your party photos, I don’t remember paparazzi photos where you would be dressed in anything other than the modest clothes that any busy woman wears these days — without any designer polish. There is clearly more to this than just an attitude to clothing.
Jodie Foster: If it’s about clothes, then everything is simple. I can’t buy it. And I’m cold to her. I can’t go shopping. I’m too lazy to browse online directories. And therefore, in my contract for each film where I am filming — unless, of course, we are talking about a costume-historical picture — a clause is invariably included that after filming all the things of the heroine become my property. That is, if it were not for the films, I would have nothing to wear at all. Do not laugh. I would definitely get neurotic on this. As for the, as you say, chic side…
Look, I’ve been in this business since I was three years old. What for others is brilliance and chic, has been a terrible bore for me for five years now. And even then I instinctively understood that my main task was to save my life as my own. I knew that if I did not pay special attention to this point — «my life is only mine» — it would simply be taken away from me.
“Look at the truth: we will find replacements for those who we needed. And we will find a replacement»
Once, I was about seven or eight years old, I don’t remember what I starred in then, they told me that the whole group was going to Disneyland tomorrow and I could take my girlfriend with me. And that we will be filmed on the rides. I’m not really a rebel. But then she flatly refused. I really wanted to go to Disneyland, I wanted to take a girlfriend with me. But I remember I said to myself: I don’t want to go there with a group, I just want to go to Disneyland. I categorically disagreed that this wonderful experience of mine would be destroyed by filming. That someone will see him later, as if they were spying on me. I didn’t want my trip to Disneyland to become a reality show about my trip to Disneyland. And she didn’t go. Since then I have been living like this. And I insist: my life is not a show. And if she is not a show, then what kind of “goods face” can be?
But in your case, to live a life that is called normal, you need to try very hard. This in itself can lead to neurosis …
JF: And at the same time gives a lot of wonderful impressions! Do you know when I felt finally happy? About ten years ago. In June. My oldest son was seven or eight. On Thursday he played in a school play, on Friday they celebrated summer birthdays in the class — well, in order to congratulate classmates who have birthdays in the summer in advance — he and I chose gifts a week before. And on Saturday, he blew it clean at the school Olympics, failed everything — both the race and the uneven bars, everything. He was terribly upset and wept. And he cried and cried, well, nothing could calm him down.
And I was absolutely happy — at this very moment when he sobbed. Because I suddenly realized: hurray, I was able to create such a life when I am fully present in the life of my child. I go to his shows, help pick out those stupid Pokémon at the toy store, yell “Go Charles!” from the podium, and then wipe my snot. This is real life. To me, this is what happiness looks like.
Do you regret spending 50 years in the film business? That they did not leave him, say, when they graduated from the prestigious Yale and could choose another career?
JF: Yes, I did not imagine that you can live a different life. I never wanted to be an actress. I didn’t have time to acquire this desire as a conscious one. I just immediately became a girl in commercials and films. I don’t remember being a non-actress. I didn’t even think I had my own personality. Truth. It was as if I was created from my heroines, from conversations about them with directors. And the people of cinema raised me — I grew up on the set. Among those with whom I spent my childhood — illuminators, mechanics, assistant directors and cameramen — there were almost no women. So it was also a male upbringing.
I was pulled down like a man when I was capricious, and like a man they ridiculed me when I showed «stardom». I was taught honest professionalism — not to be late, to learn the role, to be ready for filming. And they taught a lot of other things: carpenters — to plan a tree, an assistant to the operator — to focus … I could not imagine my life without all this. And no camera too. You see, if you’ve always acted in film, you develop a relationship with her. As with a creature that is always watching, giving you an assessment. And you become an adult not even after finishing Yale, but when you stop needing its assessment. In general, you no longer need an external assessment.
Is that how you became a director?
JF: Yes, at some point I realized that my place was on the other side of the camera. When you have been doing the same thing for 40 years, the question arises: why not do something else? I paused, thought about directing for a long time. And I decided. Do you know why? By the highest score? Now I think it’s because I didn’t have children.
What’s the connection here? Too much of your own life? Tired of yourself?
JF: No. It’s just that all parents, mothers, for sure, are directors. Children need directing. So I say to Keith (Christopher, the youngest son of Foster. — Approx. ed.), He goes to equestrian classes on the train: “The train leaves at 8.29. So you need to be at the station at 8.22:XNUMX. Do not waste time on the road, do not talk to anyone … ”, and so on. What is it if not directing and creating a mise-en-scene? Yes, children need freedom and love, but no less do they need understanding: what they are doing is right. Just like actors! And they need someone who sees the overall structure, is responsible, will not let them lose their bearings — just like a director.
So your mother was your director? After all, it was she who «gave» you to the cinema …
JF: Oh no. Mom was not a director. She was my agent, the first commercial I did was because of her… or because of her, I don’t know now. And in this system of metaphors, mom was a cheerleader — someone who believes in you without limit. Who inspires. Shouts: come on, come on, you can do anything!
Did you take it as pressure?
JF: On the contrary, I myself aspire to be more of a cheerleader for my sons than a director. The whole point and beauty of parenthood is to consider who your child is and support the development of who he already is. The parent is the one who stands on the side of the road along which his child rushes and applauds. My mom was like that. She didn’t push me in the back at all. Of course, she wanted an interesting, prosperous life for me. And I felt it every second.
But on the set, I was more in the family — a lot of people, everyone cares about you, everyone instructs you. And then I missed filming, because in the pauses between films, at home, we were, in general, the two of us — mom and me. And I missed my mother. I even felt vaguely guilty about it. I tend to feel guilty in general. And take on a lot, and then worry. Then I, a child, felt like the breadwinner of the family, I could not afford tears or weakness. Nobody held me accountable. But for some reason I needed her.
Why, do you understand?
JF: No, I didn’t understand. Mystery. This is despite the fact that I have no competition at all. Mom — yes, she was peculiar. She was like the mother of an athlete who constantly has to improve results. But I clearly once made it clear that I hate to compare myself with someone. I was in my early twenties when everyone in Los Angeles was raving about John Hughes’ Breakfast Club and his acting company. Brilliant, funny, young, they continued to hang out together after the release of the film, and everyone wanted to be in their circle. And I began to suffer — why am I not in the Breakfast Club? Why am I not as carefree as they are? What if I’m not in the right place at the wrong time?
And at the same time instinct told me that all this was not for me. And that I’m in the right place — in my life. And you have to trust your intuition. And the tendency to put yourself under pressure has passed only with age. At some stage in your life, when you have not chosen many paths irrevocably, when you know: everything turned out the way it happened … That’s when you understand: most people live in constant fear of failure. And this fear drives them. Moreover, we are usually talking about failures not in a vital area. And in the field of money, career and relationships. Yes, don’t be surprised, I don’t think relationships are vital. Let’s face it, we’ll find replacements for those we needed. And they will find us a replacement. Unless, of course, we are talking about parents and children. They are irreplaceable. But the rest … Relationship with yourself is important — for me it is so. I couldn’t be alone with myself and that was the most painful thing.
And why, you know?
JF: Well, until I was 18, I was always with my mom. We were a team — she was my agent, manager, assistant, everything. We went to the laundry together on Saturdays and went to the set together. My mother has always stood by my shoulder. But at the age of 19, I had a need to live on my own. Wash your own clothes, go to auditions alone, without consulting to make decisions about roles. We parted, and it turned out that I did not know what it was like to be alone. How to come to an empty house and cook dinner for yourself, how to survive the silence. How to be alone on set. But I learned. Hang out, find small apartments in the cities where I filmed, bring a frying pan and pots from home and cook soup for myself in the evening — to feel at home everywhere, to be alone, but at home. I realized this later: only a person who knows how to be alone can have a family. A loner who is not afraid of loneliness.
FATHER OF SONS xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Photo Shoot:
- Getty Images
You often mention time — at some point, at a certain age, over the years … And here you are in your fifties. What do you think of the passing time?
JF: What an advantage. You will no longer be what you are not. When you’re young, they tell you: you can be anything. And it’s such a pressure… Oh, I could sing and record an album. I could do a romantic comedy. Or: if I train, I will enter the Olympic team. But over time, you realize that you are not a conqueror of sports peaks, your hearing is so-so, your voice is even worse, and you are gloomy for a rom-com … And you are not obliged to compete in areas where you are not interested. At twenty, I was all anxiety. And now, some good news. The main one is liberation. Age brings relief, not just wrinkles.
Do wrinkles bother you at all?
JF: Are you talking about surgery? Why, it’s better to be a woman with wrinkles than a woman who can be seen at once: she is embarrassed by her wrinkles.