The controversial actor Jodie Foster will defend to the death: “I love this guy”
In Hollywood, you’re either a sheep or someone who goes against the grain, and Jodie Foster has never understood why anyone wouldn’t be the latter.
From day one, Foster made it clear that all opportunities are supposed to only ever be taken when it’s something that you actually want to do. In fact, she once opined that she failed to understand those who do the opposite and opt for projects for the sake of it, saying, “I don’t understand how they just want to act. They don’t care if the movie’s bad. They don’t care if the dialogue is bad. They don’t care if they’re a grape in a Fruit of the Loom ad.”
Foster is a genuine lover of art, and if she could do anything, so long as she could still be a “vessel for story or cinema”, then she would do it. That’s what counts: telling stories that matter, not acting just because it gets your name somewhere or pays the bills, as her mindset is that acting is art, and everybody should treat it that way.
That said, she is no fool when it comes to the nature of the industry, and as a woman who had her breakthrough at a young age, things were never easy; so now, whenever she looks at how much more diverse the pool has become, she feels equal parts pride and concern, primarily because she knows how brutal Hollywood can be, which makes her want to reach out to new stars to make sure they’re not struggling.
This was the case with Bella Ramsey, with whom she initially made contact to request that the actor introduce her at Elle’s 2023 Women in Hollywood event. Foster, who had likely discovered Ramsey through HBO’s The Last of Us, told The Guardian that it became a thing of hers, reaching out to new talent to make connections, explaining, “I do a lot of reaching out to young actresses. I’m compelled. Because it was hard growing up”.
One of the many lessons that the actor learned herself, and one that she likely feels compelled to pass on, is learning the balance between control, resilience, and humility, even when it’s unclear whether projects will be a success or not. Hence, in 1994, when she appeared alongside Mel Gibson in the quirky, lighthearted Western movie Maverick, it sparked a lifelong admiration and close-knit friendship that she would stand by forever, a magnetism she felt the moment she met him, something that overrode everything else anyone could possibly say or think about him at the time.
“I’ve never worked with anybody I’ve liked so much,” she told The Washington Post in 1994, adding, “I mean, I have respect for his talent and all that, but I just like him. He’s so many things that I’m not. He’s incredibly uncomplicated for one thing. And the first time I met him, I walked into the room, and I said, ‘I love this guy’.”
Famously, Gibson has been central to many controversies over the years, including comments of sexism, racism, and homophobia, as well as arrests and accusations of domestic abuse, and still, Foster exuded the same level of passion when the pair worked together again for her own 2011 drama film, The Beaver. This time, however, talking to The Hollywood Reporter, she acknowledged that openly praising Gibson might not be the expected thing to do, but that she understands him on a more personal and complex level, and it’s her love for him that ensures she’ll always be there for him.
“He’s so incredibly loving and sensitive, he really is,” she said, “He is the most loved actor I have ever worked with on a movie. And he’s not saintly, and he’s got a big mouth, and he’ll do gross things your nephew would do. But I knew the minute I met him that I would love him the rest of my life.”
