On the surface, it may look like Jodie Foster is having an easy time in Hollywood. She was just nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the movie, Nyad, and she’s starring in HBO’s upcoming season of True Detective: Night Country. However, she’s revealing that navigating Hollywood in her 50s was a tricky journey.
She shared with The Guardian that there aren’t enough role models for women in this season of life because Hollywood doesn’t give them as many opportunities. The now-61-year-old actress realized that she had to find community in women who were older and younger than her. “I have a friend who I adore, who’s 80. She’s a college professor, she lived in a commune in the early 70s, she’s an extraordinary person,” Foster said. “I get to see what’s ahead, what’s possible. For all of her accomplishments, what she keeps saying, which I think is really true, is that the greatest thing is helping communities of other women.”
Foster also wants to impart knowledge on Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z as they rise through the ranks in the entertainment industry. “They need to learn how to relax, how to not think about it so much, how to come up with something that’s theirs,” she advised. “I can help them find that, which is so much more fun than being, with all the pressure behind it, the protagonist of the story.”
The Silence of the Lambs star admitted to Interview magazine that she “was struggling in my fifties” and that turning “60 was the best shift of all.” She questioned her self-worth, even as an accomplished actress who has two Oscars under her belt. “I was sort of like, “Am I ever going to do anything meaningful again? Is this all there is?” And there’s that awkward phase where everybody who’s in their late forties or fifties is very busy getting all plumped and shooting s**t into their face,” Foster frankly shared. “I didn’t want that life, but I also knew that I couldn’t compete with my old self. So, my fifties were tough.”
Now that she’s in a new decade, Foster has “a different attitude” which is about mentoring and gathering a community around her. She noted, “[It’s] about really enjoying supporting other people and saying to myself, ‘This is not my time. I had my time. This is their time, and I get to participate in it by giving them whatever wisdom I have.'” Foster found her purpose in her career by sharing her gifts with others.
Before you go, click here to see actresses over 50 who are more successful now than ever.
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