Jodie Foster at 17
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 3:33PM Our Jodie Foster 50th Anniversary Celebration continues...
Her answer is priceless
Michael C here to pass along this clip I discovered while researching the estimable Ms. Foster. Nowadays child stardom is commonly seen as the first stage in an inevitable downward trajectory of substance abuse and self-destruction so it's a bit jarring to watch this footage of Jodie Foster interviewed at age seventeen.
It's a rare thing to hear a movie star – or a politician for that matter – of any age speak with such poise and thoughtfulness. To listen to it after having lived through the E! News and TMZ takeover of celebrity reporting makes it seem positively alien. I love the way she keeps gently steering fluff questions toward substantive answers, like when she responds to a question about a potential boyfriend with an observation about the phoniness of fawning celebrity praise.
I imagine many young stars that meet with similar success so early in life receive a shock when they discover the world is not going to unroll at their feet in all their future endeavors.
Yet here we find the young Jodie Foster already tempering her big ambitions with the knowledge that there will be surely be failures along the way. Agents of up and coming celebrities should play clips like this for their clients to study.
Reader Comments (10)
Peppermint Patty
What a great find! I particularly love the bits about De Niro, Burstyn, Redgrave.
Anyone else think Michelle Trachtenberg circa Buffy looks like Jodie here?
Oooh. I can't wait for the next post to be about John Hinckley and the attempted Reagan assassination.
God, her lesbianism is so apparent in this video.
JFA-I kinda thought the same thing and cringed when the interviewer asked her what kinda "Fella" she'd like to date.
Love her. Happy Bday Jodie!
Ellen Page, anyone?!
I adore this!
Her poise and composure at this age, and evidenced even earlier, is remarkable. It's no accident that she maintains this sense of confidence and serenity onstage today.
Too funny. She really is brilliant at spinning questions around into the direction she wants when they get too personal. I remember some interviewer tried to trick her into getting personal by asking her why she's never been in love. She spinned it around into her discussing why as an actor she processes things through head first rather than get precious about it.
She's interesting because she can be present, but as distant and mysterious as Greta Garbo.