Jodie Foster names the two directors she learned the most from
A persistent shining light in the film industry, Jodie Foster made a remarkable transition from actor to director and has left a permanent mark of quality in the movie world in the process. Not only has she given Academy Award-winning performances in the likes of The Accused and Silence of the Lambs, but Foster has also delivered excellence in the director’s chair.
Clearly, the Los Angeles-born star has a knack for storytelling, as proven further by her directorial efforts. Foster has an ability to weave fine narratives in a wide variety of genres, shown through her films Little Man Tate, Home for the Holidays and Money Monster, making her one of the most unique film artists of her generation.
During an interview with DGA, Foster opened up on the directors who have influenced her the most and who have provided the most scope for learning. Foster admitted to being able to learn from “everyone” but named two in particular whom she has been able to borrow the most from in her own filmmaking style.
“The two directors that I learned the most from are David Fincher and Neil Jordan,” Foster began. “They’re polar opposites. Fincher is legendary: 110 takes, always prepared, has an opinion about everything, knows every single person’s job better than they could. He’s hands-down the greatest technician I’ve ever met.”
Foster starred for Fincher in the 2002 thriller movie Panic Room, in which she plays a mother to Kristen Stewart’s daughter character. It sees the pair’s home invaded by burglars, so they head for their recently installed panic room, although this provides its own set of challenges. Fincher is something of a master director in the thriller genre, and it’s shown in Foster’s words of praise.
“Everything’s controlled,” she said. “I work really well in that system. I get it and I get his joy in it. It’s not how I am. But I’ve really learned so much about filmmaking from him.” But Foster’s love for directors does not end with Fincher but extends to the Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan, who had worked with the actor on 2007’s The Brave One.
Discussing the difference between Jordan and Fincher, Foster noted: “He’s more of stream-of-consciousness. He’s very well prepared about the characters, but he doesn’t really know what he’s going to do until he gets there. He lets the room, the scene, and the feeling kind of tell him—and he comes up with absolutely authentic choices that are so creative and kind of off-the-wall. And that’s what gives his movies this sort of eerie, unconscious feeling.”
The Brave One is another thriller movie directed by Jordan and written by Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor and Cynthia Mort. Foster plays Erica Bain, a radio host in New York City, whose fiancé is beaten to death by three men in Central Park. She subsequently buys a gun, goes through a severe transformation of personality and becomes a vigilante.
Continuing to express how she learned from Jordan, Foster said, “But I’ve learned that sometimes I have to try to not control everything and come up with things instinctually, at the moment. If you trust that you’ve been around a long time, you’ve made a lot of movies, and that you’re inspired, you’ll find inspiration. You don’t have to rely on something you planned at home with your computer.”
