Jodie Foster

Acting

Jodie Foster

Born 1962-11-19 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Alicia Christian 'Jodie' Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. For her work as a producer and director, she has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She has also earned numerous honors such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2013, was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2016 and received the Cannes Film Festival's Honorary Palme d'Or in 2021. Foster began her professional career as a child model and later as a teen idol in various Disney films including Napoleon and Samantha (1972), Freaky Friday (1976) and Candleshoe (1977). She acted in Martin Scorsese's comedy-drama Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and reunited with him in Taxi Driver (1976) in a role for which she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. Other early films include Tom Sawyer (1973), Bugsy Malone (1976), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), Carny (1980) and Foxes (1980). After attending Yale University, Foster transitioned into mature leading roles earning two Academy Awards for playing a rape victim in The Accused (1988), and Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). She also received a nomination for Nell (1994). Her other notable films include Sommersby (1993), Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), Anna and the King (1999), Panic Room (2002), Flightplan (2005), Inside Man (2006), The Brave One (2007), Nim's Island (2008), Carnage (2011), Elysium (2013), Hotel Artemis (2018), and The Mauritanian (2021). She made her directorial film debut with Little Man Tate (1991) and has since directed films such as Home for the Holidays (1995), The Beaver (2011) and Money Monster (2016). She founded her own production company, Egg Pictures, in 1992. She earned two Primetime Emmy Awards for producing The Baby Dance (1999), and directing the Orange Is the New Black episode "Lesbian Request Denied" in 2014. She has also directed episodes for Tales from the Darkside, House of Cards, Black Mirror, and Tales from the Loop. Foster's sexual orientation became the subject of public discussion in 1991 when publications such as OutWeek and The Village Voice, protesting against the alleged homophobia and transphobia in The Silence of the Lambs, claimed she was a lesbian. She publicly acknowledged her 14-year relationship with Cydney Bernard in 2007 in a speech at The Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment" breakfast honoring her. In 2013, she addressed her decision to come out in a speech after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards, which led many news outlets to describe her as gay. Some sources noted that she did not use the words "gay" or "lesbian" in her speech.

Acting credits

Taxi Driver poster
8.1

Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.

Taxi Driver

1976

Elysium poster
6.5

In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

Elysium

2013

Inside Man poster
7.4

When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.

Inside Man

2006

Contact poster
7.4

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

Contact

1997

Panic Room poster
6.8

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

Panic Room

2002

A Private Life poster
5.5

The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.

A Private Life

2025

Hexed poster
NR

An impulsive and unconventional teenage girl named Billie discovers secret magical abilities which, once unleashed, hurtle her into a spectacle-filled journey out of suburbia and into a vast witch realm called Hexe. Forced to team up with her cautious mother, Alice, they uncover family mysteries that could change the world of witches forever.

Hexed

2026

Flightplan poster
6.4

Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's 6-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter.

Flightplan

2005

The Silence of the Lambs poster
8.3

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

The Silence of the Lambs

1991

Maverick poster
6.9

Bret Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional $3k in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game beginning in a few days. He joins forces with a woman with a marvelous Southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

Maverick

1994

The Mauritanian poster
7.4

The true story of the Mauritanian Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was held at the U.S military's Guantanamo Bay detention center without charges for over a decade and sought help from a defense attorney for his release.

The Mauritanian

2021

The Beaver poster
6.4

Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter pushes for his parents to get a divorce.

The Beaver

2011

Anna and the King poster
6.8

The story of the romance between the King of Siam (now Thailand) and the widowed British school teacher Anna Leonowens during the 1860s. Anna teaches the children and becomes romanced by the King. She convinces him that a man can be loved by just one woman.

Anna and the King

1999

The Accused poster
7.1

Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.

The Accused

1988

Hotel Artemis poster
6.1

Los Angeles, June 21st, 2028. While the streets are being torn apart by riots, the Nurse, who runs a clandestine hospital for criminals in the penthouse of the Artemis, a closed old hotel, has a rough night dealing with troublemaker clients: thieves, assassins, someone from the past and the one who owns the place and the whole city.

Hotel Artemis

2018

Nim's Island poster
5.9

A young girl inhabits an isolated island with her scientist father and communicates with a reclusive author of the novel she's reading.

Nim's Island

2008

A Very Long Engagement poster
7.3

Young Frenchwoman Mathilde searches for the truth about her missing fiancé, lost during World War I, and learns many unexpected things along the way. The love of her life is gone. But she refuses to believe he's gone forever — and she needs to know for sure.

A Very Long Engagement

2004

Sommersby poster
6.4

Set in the South just after the US Civil War, Laurel Sommersby is just managing to work the farm without her husband, believed killed in battle. By all accounts, Jack Sommersby was not a pleasant man, thus when he suddenly returns, Laurel has mixed emotions. It appears that Jack has changed a great deal, leading some people to believe that this is not actually Jack but an imposter. Laurel herself is unsure, but willing to take the man into her home, and perhaps later into her heart.

Sommersby

1993

The Brave One poster
6.6

A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

The Brave One

2007

Carnage poster
7.2

Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.

Carnage

2011

Little Man Tate poster
6.6

Dede is a sole parent trying to bring up her son Fred. When it is discovered that Fred is a genius, she is determined to ensure that Fred has all the opportunities that he needs, and that he is not taken advantage of by people who forget that his extremely powerful intellect is harboured in the body and emotions of a child.

Little Man Tate

1991

Shadows and Fog poster
6.7

With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.

Shadows and Fog

1991

Nell poster
6.5

In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.

Nell

1994

NYAD poster
7.1

Athlete Diana Nyad sets out at 60 to achieve a nearly impossible lifelong dream: to swim from Cuba to Florida across more than 100 miles of open ocean.

NYAD

2023

Behind the camera

Money Monster poster
6.4

Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.

Money Monster

2016

The Beaver poster
6.4

Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter pushes for his parents to get a divorce.

The Beaver

2011

Little Man Tate poster
6.6

Dede is a sole parent trying to bring up her son Fred. When it is discovered that Fred is a genius, she is determined to ensure that Fred has all the opportunities that he needs, and that he is not taken advantage of by people who forget that his extremely powerful intellect is harboured in the body and emotions of a child.

Little Man Tate

1991

Nell poster
6.5

In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.

Nell

1994

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys poster
6.7

A group of Catholic school friends, after being caught drawing an obscene comic book, plan a heist that will outdo their previous prank and make them local legends.

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

2002

Home for the Holidays poster
6.3

After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.

Home for the Holidays

1995

Home for the Holidays poster
6.3

After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.

Home for the Holidays

1995

Stephen King's Golden Tales poster
4.0

A collection of horror stories taking the viewer into the dark world of Stephen King, featuring vampires, strange objects and sinister humor. The five 20-minutes tales were all taken from the Tales from the Darkside TV series and strung together as a video feature.

Stephen King's Golden Tales

1993

George Romero's Golden Tales 2 poster
NR

Compilation of five horror stories from Tales from the Darkside (1983) that takes the viewer into the dark world of vampires, cursed objects and sinister humor. Despite the title, only the final story is by Stephen King.

George Romero's Golden Tales 2

1995

The Hands of Time poster
NR

A BBC special with Jodie Foster's directing debut.

The Hands of Time

1978

The Hands of Time poster
NR

A BBC special with Jodie Foster's directing debut.

The Hands of Time

1978