Veteran actor-director Jodie Foster says she has never played the roles of “the girlfriend” or “the wife” as she was not “very good” at essaying those characters.
The 55-year-old actor says she did not want to be in the movies for the namesake and preferred working when she found a story that appealed to her.
“I was never interested in a career for a career’s sake. I just wanted to tell the stories I find interesting and I wasn’t very good playing the girlfriend, so, nope, I never did that. I just worked when I found something that moved me,” Foster told The Guardian.
She admits she has perhaps worked less than other actors, but says she would “rather be more discerning”.
“The industry has changed a lot recently, with the end of the studio system, the rise of superheroes and streaming. But the only thing I trust is the quality of stories, and I decided I would focus on that. Some of my movies haven’t worked, but at least I held to the same principle. That’s why I’m not the richest actor, or the most successful. But I think I’ve had the longest career,” she says.
Foster will next be seen starring in a sci-fi action movie, “Hotel Artemis” – an acting job after a hiatus of five years, since “Elysium”.
In the meanwhile, she went on to direct a movie “Money Monster” and several TV episodes, including two of “Orange Is the New Black”, one of “House of Cards” and another of the last series of “Black Mirror”.
Talking about resuming acting, she says, being in the 50s is a “transitional period for actors”.
“… You’re not old enough to play the old characters and not young enough to play the young ones, so I felt like, OK, this is my time to direct.”
When asked if only female actors go through that transition, Foster says, “I don’t know if that’s not the case with men. It’s just what happens it’s normal. There are just not that many roles for this age. But I anticipated it and I feel like I made hay in my younger years and I can express myself by directing. But once in a while something original comes along that isn’t just another franchise.
