Jodie Foster sees herself differently at 61

From ‘The Accused’ to ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Hollywood actress Jodie Foster has built her career with her talent, indomitable courage, strength and intelligence. The two-time Oscar winner has now stepped into a completely different world with Rebecca Zlotowski’s ‘A Private Life’. This is the first time the actress has played a leading role in a French film. And not in English, but in French, which she delivered herself. The actress said that when she spoke in French, she revealed a different side of herself, which was very funny, but unexpectedly vulnerable.

The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year, has also made Foster a big topic of discussion at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival in Canada. In this film, Foster plays the role of Dr. Lillian Steiner, an American psychoanalyst whose patient dies under mysterious circumstances. The death sets in motion a series of events that force Lillian to reexamine her broken family life and her complicated relationship with her ex-husband.

Jodie Foster had long wanted to act in a French film. She said, “It took me a long time to find the right project. I really wanted to work in a French film. And this script was really great for me. It has the pace that we like as Americans. There are twists and turns in the story.”

Jodie said, “A Private Life” is a romantic comedy. It has everything from Hitchcockian mysteries to crazy amateur-detective capers to psychological thrillers. About the story, she said, “It’s something we don’t allow ourselves to do in the United States. In Hollywood, many directors compromise, cut stories for the sake of the budget. But coming to the French industry, my perception has changed. Here (in France) directors are kings. Until they get the budget they give, they will not compromise with the story. That is, they have to work to the satisfaction of the director.’

However, Foster said that the experience of working in the local language in French films was great. She said, ‘I usually speak a little lower in English. But in French I had to speak a little higher, which was not my habit at all.’ However, the actress said that acting in this film has defined her career in a way that she had not even thought of before starting. It was completely different from her previous roles. According to her, Foster, who played the role of a rape victim facing the justice system in ‘The Accused’, a young FBI trainee tracking down a serial killer in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, a single mother chasing intruders in ‘Panic Room’, cannot be compared to Dr. Lillian.

Jodie Foster played opposite French cinema legend Daniel Auteuil in this film. The story ends with a car ride in the rain, when Lillian finally asks the question that Daniel (Gabriel on screen) has been avoiding for years. Lillian asks, “Then why did you leave me?” Foster describes the feeling of saying this line, “It’s something that I found very moving, after 15 years of divorce and everything you’ve been through, and then suddenly you arrive in the car at that moment where you’ve been waiting for this one question for a long time! To me, that was the most emotional scene in the whole movie.”

Jodie also mentioned that “A Private Life” is not just a movie, it’s a story of a woman’s longing, her struggle to survive in life. How a woman under impossible pressure copes with herself, fighting against the tide, is shown in this movie. At the same time, Jodie considers this movie to be a movie of liberation. According to him, 'A Private Life' will change the calculus that critics have been turning a blind eye to or making fun of for his work over the past few years. It is worth noting that the movie will be released in theaters on November 26 this year.