Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster Wins First Emmy Award

Jodie Foster has secured her first-ever Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance in True Detective: Night Country. During her acceptance speech, Foster expressed deep gratitude to the cast and crew of the series, as well as the Indigenous and Inuit people of Northern Alaska, whose stories helped shape the show’s narrative.

“It was love, love, love, and when you feel that, something amazing happens,” Foster remarked, adding, “That’s the message—love and work equals art. To my boys, Charlie and Kit, remember that.”

At 61, Foster won the award for portraying detective Liz Danvers in the HBO series, which was also nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Foster triumphed in a competitive category that included esteemed actresses like Sofía Vergara, Naomi Watts, Juno Temple, and Brie Larson. This Emmy win adds to her impressive accolades, which include two Academy Awards.

Who Is Jodie Foster?

Jodie Foster is a highly acclaimed actress and Emmy-nominated director, who first gained widespread recognition with her Oscar-nominated role at just 14 in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976). Over the years, she has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for her performances in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs. Foster has also received four Golden Globe Awards and starred in notable films such as Contact and Panic Room. Her recent projects include the 2023 biopic Nyad, in which she stars alongside Annette Bening, and the Emmy-winning HBO anthology series True Detective: Night Country.

Life as a Child Actor

Born Alicia Christian Foster on November 19, 1962, in Los Angeles, Foster was the youngest of four children. She was raised by her mother, Evelyn “Brandy” Ella, who also managed her early career. Foster began her journey in the entertainment industry at the age of 3, making her debut in a commercial as the Coppertone Girl. A gifted child, Foster was speaking by 9 months and had taught herself to read by the age of 3. Despite no formal acting training, she quickly rose to prominence, landing her first television role in 1968 on Mayberry R.F.D..

Foster’s film debut followed soon after with roles in Disney’s Napoleon and Samantha (1972) and One Little Indian (1973). All the while, she managed to maintain her academic pursuits at the prestigious Lycée Français de Los Angeles, becoming fluent in French while continuing her busy acting career.

Breakthrough with Taxi Driver

Jodie Foster’s breakout role occurred in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 crime thriller Taxi Driver, a film set against the gritty backdrop of 1970s New York City. Cast at the tender age of 12, Foster portrayed Iris, a child prostitute who becomes the object of obsession for the film’s protagonist, Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro. Her performance was met with widespread acclaim, and the film itself was later inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994. Renowned film critic Roger Ebert described Foster as “chillingly cast” in the role. This performance earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, although she ultimately lost to Beatrice Straight for Network. Despite this setback, Foster’s role solidified her status as a rising star, leading to subsequent roles in popular films such as Freaky Friday (1976) and Foxes (1980).

Connection to Reagan Assassination Attempt

While Foster’s career was on the upswing, she struggled with the ramifications of her newfound fame. Seeking anonymity and a typical college experience, she enrolled at Yale University after graduating from high school. Undeterred by the Ivy League’s demanding nature, she quickly registered for advanced French courses, stating, “I chose Yale basically for writing and literature.” However, her aspirations for a quiet college life were shattered in 1981 when John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, claiming he did so to impress Foster. Hinckley had developed an unhealthy obsession with her, writing her love letters and making phone calls. Foster ultimately testified at Hinckley’s trial, revealing that the experience left her deeply unsettled. Nevertheless, she returned to acting soon after the incident, starring alongside Peter O’Toole in Svengali, finding solace in her craft amidst the unwanted media attention stemming from Hinckley’s actions.

Oscars for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs

After graduating from Yale in 1985 with a degree in literature, Foster transitioned from a child star to a mature actress, though her early films in the mid-1980s did not garner significant acclaim. Her next major breakthrough came with her powerful portrayal of Sarah Tobias, a sexual assault survivor, in The Accused (1988). This performance earned Foster both the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture, establishing her as one of Hollywood’s most esteemed actors. Three years later, she delivered another standout performance as FBI agent Clarice Starling in the critically acclaimed thriller The Silence of the Lambs, based on the 1988 novel by Thomas Harris. Foster’s intense portrayal of Starling, who confronts the chilling psychopath Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, garnered her another Academy Award for Best Actress, contributing to the film’s total of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film’s success led to two sequels, Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002), as well as a prequel, Hannibal Rising (2007), and two television adaptations, although Foster chose not to reprise her role as Clarice in these subsequent projects.

Directing Work

With her status firmly established as one of Hollywood’s leading stars, Foster embraced the opportunity to explore directing. Reflecting on the differences between acting and directing, she noted, “Well, you have control, but you also have 175 people involved. Acting, for me, is exhausting. I’m always so energized by directing.” Her feature film directorial debut, Little Man Tate (1991), received critical acclaim, and she continued her directorial journey with films such as Home for the Holidays (1995), The Beaver (2011), in which she also starred alongside Mel Gibson, and Money Monster (2016). Foster has also directed episodes of popular television series, including Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, and Black Mirror. Her work on Orange Is the New Black earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2014.

More Recent Movies

In addition to her directing endeavors, Foster has maintained a strong acting presence in films like Nell (1994), Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), and Panic Room (2002). In Nell, which she also produced, Foster portrayed a woman raised in isolation by her mother, earning nominations for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Foster’s diverse filmography includes a range of projects from blockbuster hits to independent and foreign films. In The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002), she played a nun while also serving as a producer. She later appeared in the French film A Very Long Engagement (2004) and returned to Hollywood with Flightplan (2005) and Inside Man (2006). Foster remained selective with her projects, collaborating with director Roman Polanski on Carnage (2011) and starring as a villainous government official in the 2013 sci-fi film Elysium. That same year, she received the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award, an honorary Golden Globe recognizing outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. In 2021, Foster won her third Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Mauritanian.

Most recently, Foster portrayed Bonnie Stoll, the friend and coach of long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, in the 2023 film Nyad, which earned her a tenth Golden Globe nomination and an Academy Award nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role. In September 2024, she was slated to begin filming a small French film, which she described as “very small, very intelligent, interesting, lots of psychological drama, twists and turns, but also has a little humor to it.”

True Detective

In early 2024, Foster starred as detective Liz Danvers in Season 4 of the HBO anthology series True Detective. The show’s creator, Issa López, indicated that True Detective: Night Country was indirectly inspired by The Silence of the Lambs and Foster’s iconic performance. “It’s impossible to do serial killers the same way after Hannibal [Lecter],” López stated. For Foster, the role was significant, as she expressed, “I could talk about it for the rest of my life… This one is special.” Her performance earned her two Primetime Emmy nominations, winning for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Personal Life

In April 2014, Foster married photographer and actress Alexandra Hedison in a private ceremony. Hedison, best known for her role in the television series The L Word, had previously been in a four-year relationship with Ellen DeGeneres. Foster and Hedison began dating in October 2013 and tend to keep details of their relationship private. Hedison notably appeared with Foster during a virtual acceptance speech for the 2021 Golden Globe Award.

Foster publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation for the first time during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award in January 2013, expressing gratitude to her former partner, Cydney Bernard. She described Bernard as “one of the deepest loves of my life” and highlighted their shared role as co-parents to their two sons, Charles and Kit, who were conceived through in vitro fertilization. “I am so proud of our modern family,” Foster said in her speech, emphasizing the importance of her children in her life.