Jodie Foster Quotes

Powerful Jodie Foster for Daily Growth

About Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster, born Alicia Christian Foster on November 19, 1962, in Los Angeles, California, is a renowned American actress, director, and producer. Known for her exceptional versatility and nuanced performances, she has carved a niche for herself in the film industry since her childhood. Foster's acting career began at the tender age of three when she appeared in commercials. Her first major role was in the 1976 drama 'Taxi Driver,' where she played the character Iris, opposite Robert De Niro, a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1978, Foster starred in 'Superman' and its sequel as Lois Lane, which brought her into the mainstream of Hollywood. Her portrayal of Sarah Tobias in 'The Accused' (1988) won her an Academy Award for Best Actress, making her one of the youngest recipients of this honor at just 26 years old. Foster ventured into directing with 'Little Man Tate' (1991), a film she also starred in. Her directorial career continued with films like 'Home for the Holidays' (1995) and 'The Brave One' (2007). Influenced by actors such as Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, and her own mother, Evelyn Almond, a actress and producer, Foster's work often explores themes of identity, sexuality, and societal norms. Her groundbreaking role in the 1983 film 'Silence of the Lambs' portrayed Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee who confronts a psychopathic cannibal. This performance earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress, making her one of only three individuals to win Oscars in both acting and directing categories (as of 2021). Foster's life and work continue to inspire generations of actors, directors, and storytellers with their depth, complexity, and courage.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I have a very high tolerance for chaos because I'm fundamentally an optimist."

Jodie Foster expresses that she can endure high levels of disorder or disorganization due to her inherent optimism. This means that despite the apparent confusion or uncertainty in certain situations, she remains hopeful and positive that things will ultimately improve or find resolution.

"You can't find your life's work without encountering a multitude of lives."

This quote suggests that discovering one's life's purpose or calling often involves experiencing a diverse range of lives, careers, or opportunities. The implication is that exploring different paths, roles, and experiences is essential in the journey to find one's true passion and purpose. By encountering various aspects of life, we gain valuable insights, skills, and perspectives that can ultimately guide us towards our ultimate destiny.

"Everything that you see, I saw first."

This quote by Jodie Foster signifies a profound understanding and empathy towards the world around her. It suggests that she is fully immersed in her experiences, appreciating and perceiving the beauty, complexity, and truth of life before others have a chance to do so. In essence, it's about being ahead in observing, sensing, and interpreting the world, which can often lead to unique insights and perspectives that are later shared with others.

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

Jodie Foster's quote suggests that striving for normalcy should not be a goal in life. Instead, one should aim to break free from societal expectations and conventions that often restrict individuality and creativity. The implication is that true fulfillment comes from embracing our unique identities and passions, rather than conforming to the status quo or what is considered "normal." This quote encourages us to challenge traditional norms, embrace diversity, and foster self-expression in our pursuit of personal growth and happiness.

"Privacy...is a place where I am free to be me."

This quote underscores the importance of privacy in fostering personal freedom and authenticity. For Jodie Foster, privacy is more than just seclusion; it's a sanctuary where one can express themselves genuinely without fear of judgment or scrutiny. It serves as a vital aspect of self-discovery and emotional well-being. This notion emphasizes the critical role that privacy plays in maintaining our individuality and fostering personal growth within society.

Most actors don't really have a director's sensibility. They have an actor's sensibility.

- Jodie Foster

Actor, Director, Most, Sensibility

With 'Taxi Driver,' I had this eureka moment. I realized that acting could be much more than what I had been doing. I had to build a character that wasn't me.

- Jodie Foster

Doing, Been, Could, Eureka

Part of me longs to do a job where there's not a gray area.

- Jodie Foster

Gray, Part, Area, Longs

I don't find acting and directing schizophrenic in any way. I find it completely easy to move between the two.

- Jodie Foster

Easy, Move, Any, Schizophrenic

I have, in some ways, saved characters that have been marginalized by society by playing them - and having them still have dignity and still survive, still get through it.

- Jodie Foster

Through, Some, Been, Marginalized

I am the luckiest filmmaker I know.

- Jodie Foster

I Am, Know, Am, Luckiest

I like to be in a different place when I make a movie so that I can't really focus on anything else, and that is your world.

- Jodie Foster

Focus, Movie, Like, Different Place

I like dramas. I've always liked dramas. And I'm a pretty light person. I don't consider myself a very dramatic person. But I do like doing that onscreen.

- Jodie Foster

Pretty, Always, Very, Dramas

I make dark dramas, movies about people living in desperate fear who then overcome that fear and find a heroic side to themselves.

- Jodie Foster

Living, Desperate, Side, Dramas

Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock do romantic comedies. I do dark dramas. I do these movies well.

- Jodie Foster

Movies, Romantic Comedies, Dramas

Casting is a long process for me. I take a lot of time.

- Jodie Foster

Process, Lot, Take, Casting

I don't like the outside world to intrude when I'm making a film. I like to either see my family or work, but I don't like to go out.

- Jodie Foster

Making, Like, Outside World, Intrude

I'm interested in directing movies about situations that I've lived, so they are almost a personal essay about what I've come to believe in.

- Jodie Foster

Personal, About, Almost, Essay

It's an interesting combination: Having a great fear of being alone, and having a desperate need for solitude and the solitary experience. That's always been a tug of war for me.

- Jodie Foster

Alone, Always, Been, Tug

I don't see anyone walking around with a puppet on his hand in real life. Puppet therapy is very common for children. It's not something that adults take on.

- Jodie Foster

Real, Therapy, Very, Puppet

It's very hard for me to get a new car. It's really hard for me to get a new house. It's really hard for me to move on from the things that give me stability.

- Jodie Foster

New, Give, Very, Stability

Boys are easy. I mean, there are just a lot of bruises when they're young. With boys, you get a lot of accidental jabs in the eye and stepping on your feet, and those tantrums they cause when they don't want to leave the toy store.

- Jodie Foster

Feet, Young, Cause, Accidental

I was one of those avid moviegoers as a kid, and we didn't have video, so we went to see everything five times. I went to see every foreign film playing in my town. As times went on, I watched a lot less films. I have a different film school now. My film school now is my life experience.

- Jodie Foster

My Life, Kid, Film School, Avid

Being understood is not the most essential thing in life.

- Jodie Foster

Most, Being, Thing, Understood

I don't have a burning desire to act, strangely enough. I don't know that if I hadn't been an actor as a young person, I don't know that I ever would have chosen this because it's not really my personality.

- Jodie Foster

Young, Act, Been, Strangely

Well, I certainly was exposed to and learned to appreciate the work of great directors early on. As a kid, my mother used to take me to see really interesting arty films in Los Angeles.

- Jodie Foster

Certainly, Films, Angeles, Exposed

'Silence Of The Lambs' was not something people expected me to do.

- Jodie Foster

Me, Expected, Lambs, Something People

In a weird way, that's the beauty of being an actor. You get to live out things that you're afraid of, and you get to say, 'Well, maybe I can get to the end of it and survive it intact and I can be the hero of my own story.' It's kind of a way of exorcising fear.

- Jodie Foster

Beauty, Own, Maybe, Weird Way

I don't know why people think child actresses in particular are screwed up. I see kids everywhere who are totally bored. I've never been bored a day in my life.

- Jodie Foster

My Life, Why, Been, Bored

I wish that I spoke more languages. I speak a couple languages, but not well enough to really dub myself. French is really the only one, and it's a difficult thing.

- Jodie Foster

I Wish, Couple, Languages, French

I do almost all my movies in French. I dub them.

- Jodie Foster

Movies, Almost All, Dub, French

Any actor working a long time should know how a shot is set up, where to place themselves, how to handle the lines. I'm a member of the crew, like the best boy, the electrician. What I'm good at is making eyes at the camera.

- Jodie Foster

Best, Boy, Electrician, Camera

The movies I made when I was 14 or 15, I have a hard time looking at those. Those were the awkward years. I don't know if anybody can look at something they did when they were 14 and not wince.

- Jodie Foster

Look, Made, Anybody, Wince

I had to take my makeup off at work every night. I wasn't allowed to do it at home because my mom said that when your work day is done, you're done with work.

- Jodie Foster

Work, Makeup, Allowed, Every Night

As an actor, I'm attracted to drama; as a director, it's humor - because it's the story of my life, and I can't be that serious about it. Being alone is a big theme in all my movies, both as a director and as an actress.

- Jodie Foster

My Life, Big, About, Being Alone

The world is littered with movies about people that are depressed that either did not come out or are not successful.

- Jodie Foster

World, Movies, Either, Depressed

I like to nap. I do like to sleep. Sometimes I sleep in between takes.

- Jodie Foster

Sleep, Sometimes, Like, Nap

People are always surprised when I say that I'm an atheist.

- Jodie Foster

People, Say, Always, Surprised

I never know what's going to move me. I'm always surprised. And it's always a mystery to the people who work with me.

- Jodie Foster

Always, Going, Move, Surprised

I think anybody over 30 plays parents because it happens in your thirties and so that's kind of a natural progression. But I'm definitely drawn to it. It's probably the most intense, passionate thing that happens to you as you get older.

- Jodie Foster

Passionate, I Think, Anybody, Thirties

I think Anna and the King is a look at Asia from the Asian perspective, reflecting the Asian experience, which is very rare.

- Jodie Foster

Think, Very, Which, Anna

You develop a third eye where you kind of know where they are in a room at all times but no matter how vigilant you are as a parent, at some point, you'll look around a room and can't find them and there's a searing pain that goes through your body.

- Jodie Foster

Parent, Through, Some, Vigilant

I'm a technician. I don't go for the get-into-the-role stuff. I read the lines and play the scenes.

- Jodie Foster

Play, Go, Read, Lines

I love more than anything looking at a movie scene by scene and seeing the intention behind it. It allows you to really appreciate the hand of the filmmaker.

- Jodie Foster

Love, Behind, Movie, Filmmaker

Acting just happens to be my skill, but I think I would probably be just as happy being a technician or entering into the film business in some other way.

- Jodie Foster

Think, Some, Film Business, Entering

Acting, for me, is exhausting. I'm always more energized by directing. It's more intense to direct. I can pop in and express myself, then pop out again. It's a huge passion for me.

- Jodie Foster

Myself, More, Always, Directing

I don't direct so that I can have an identity and so I can go on to CGI movies. I had a big identity as an actor, and that's not what I'm looking for from directing. Directing is a whole different goal.

- Jodie Foster

Goal, Big, CGI, Directing

I had a certain career as an actor that I think was quite personal as well, and had a lot of integrity, but I wasn't writing my own things or directing my own movies.

- Jodie Foster

Career, Think, I Think, Directing

I prefer to commit 100 per cent to a movie and make fewer films, because it takes over your life.

- Jodie Foster

Over, Films, Prefer, Per

I think an artist's responsibility is more complex than people realize.

- Jodie Foster

Art, Think, I Think, Realize

I feel at various times in my life that I've been at a point where I had to choose between a death sentence and a life sentence. And I want to live. What do I do to live? What do I do to be vital? And the answer is always creativity. The answer is always art.

- Jodie Foster

My Life, Always, Sentence, Vital

I guess I've played a lot of victims, but that's what a lot of the history of women is about.

- Jodie Foster

About, Lot, Guess, Victims

Otherness is a big thing for me. I'm always drawn to characters that live lives that I couldn't lead.

- Jodie Foster

Big, Always, Lives, Big Thing

I love more than anything looking at a movie scene by scene and seeing the intention behind it.

- Jodie Foster

Love, Behind, Movie, Intention

If I make two movies my entire life, and they're two movies that - whether they make a lot of money or two people go to see them - they speak of me, then I consider them incredibly successful. I don't need to be Steven Spielberg.

- Jodie Foster

Life, Two, Entire, Steven

Knowing what paint a painter uses or having an understanding of where he was in the history of where he came from doesn't hurt your appreciation of the painting.

- Jodie Foster

Having, The History Of, Hurt

I'd always need a creative outlet. But sometimes, I do fantasize what my life would be like if I weren't famous.

- Jodie Foster

My Life, Always, Fantasize, Outlet

I didn't have any ambition to produce big mainstream popcorn movies.

- Jodie Foster

Ambition, Movies, Big, Mainstream

I love the way L A. leaves you alone. I can go home, read all day, and nobody bugs me.

- Jodie Foster

Love, Go Home, Read, Bugs

There are conscious reasons and unconscious reasons why I pick something. You know, I have to be moved by the story and usually that means it has to touch me in some kind of personal place.

- Jodie Foster

Some, Unconscious, Means, Conscious

Everybody reads for me. I was never weird about that. I never minded coming in and reading. They should know if I'm the right person, and I should know if I want to do a movie.

- Jodie Foster

Want, Movie, Everybody, Minded

'Taxi Driver' was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I didn't become a weirdo and squawk like a chicken.

- Jodie Foster

Best, Chicken, Like, Taxi

I don't like it when reviews aren't about the movie. When they're about how much money somebody made, or who they're sleeping with, or if they got the job via some connection, or about how Fox is putting X amount of dollars into it.

- Jodie Foster

Some, Movie, Putting, Connection

Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from.

- Jodie Foster

Normal, Away, Get, Aspire

I saw leaving college as an opportunity to do something different with my life. I always thought that becoming an academic was going to be my path.

- Jodie Foster

College, My Life, Always, Leaving

I'm really not a clothes person. To me, that's just work. It's the thing I hate to do the most. I don't want to be judged in that way.

- Jodie Foster

Work, Want, Judged, Clothes

My kids are young and my life with them is really stimulating and really full and significant.

- Jodie Foster

My Life, Young, Them, Stimulating

I fantasize about having a manual job where I can come home at night, read a book and not feel responsible for what will happen the next day.

- Jodie Foster

Next, Happen, Fantasize, Manual

My earliest memories are doing commercials and TV.

- Jodie Foster

Memories, Doing, TV, Commercials

I wish people could get over the hang-up of subtitles, although at the same time, you know, that's kind of why I'm kind of pro dubbing.

- Jodie Foster

I Wish, Over, Could, Subtitles

I was never the ingenue or the pretty girlfriend of Tom Cruise in a movie. I didn't have that career, so I don't have to compete on that level.

- Jodie Foster

Career, Compete, Pretty, Ingenue

I'd like to be Dakota Fanning when I get young.

- Jodie Foster

Young, Like, Fanning, Dakota

As I've said before, and I still hold to, I truly am the most boring person alive. And if there was a great investigation to be found at the end of the resume, it would be, the most boring person alive.

- Jodie Foster

Resume, Alive, Still, Investigation

I had a prodigious life, living in a grown-up world when I was a child. But I think my abilities were about perceptiveness, and they were about examining psychology and examining people and relationships.

- Jodie Foster

Think, Living, I Think, Ability

Adolescence is a tough one to be a child actor.

- Jodie Foster

Tough, Actor, Child Actor, Adolescence

I don't know if I see myself as really an action hero, but I like doing physical movies and I like doing movies where the writing is very lean.

- Jodie Foster

Doing, Very, Action Hero, Lean

I love European movies and I kind of grew up on European films.

- Jodie Foster

Love, Movies, Films, European

I want to be inspiring to myself, to my kids, my family, and my friends.

- Jodie Foster

Family, Myself, Want, Inspiring

My definition of a friend is somebody who adores you even though they know the things you're most ashamed of.

- Jodie Foster

Friendship, Ashamed, Though, Definition

My mom was always late. It drove me crazy as a child. So I'm always on time - or early.

- Jodie Foster

Me, Late, Always, Drove

It's hard to get personal films off the ground, and it's hard developing them.

- Jodie Foster

Get, Developing, Films, Ground

By the first week of shooting, you know exactly where your film is heading based on the psychology of your director.

- Jodie Foster

Week, Based, Heading, Exactly

I think I'm drawn to films more as a director with a directorial mind even as an actor. I make movies to make the films, not to act.

- Jodie Foster

Mind, Think, Films, Drawn

So, yes, there's nothing I love more than listening to directors talk about their movies.

- Jodie Foster

Love, Listening, Yes, Directors

I make movies about people in spiritual crisis because it's a way for me to spend the time, the energy, the focus and the obsession to come to terms with my own spiritual crisis.

- Jodie Foster

Own, Crisis, My Own, Obsession

Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable.

- Jodie Foster

Cruelty, Very, Acceptable, Cultural

I spent a lot of time not in school, so I didn't have deep relationships with kids my own age.

- Jodie Foster

Deep, My Own, Spent, Relationships

Every movie that I've had to really knock down the door for has been an enormous success for me. Not just like a financial success but a real personal success.

- Jodie Foster

Door, Movie, Been, Knock

But now I really don't want to work unless I really, really care about a project.

- Jodie Foster

Work, Now, Unless, Project

As an actor, I'm always playing solitary characters. But as a director, I'm always making ensemble movies, which focus on lots of people's lives and how they intertwine.

- Jodie Foster

Always, Making, Which, Ensemble

I think every movie changes me and is life changing, especially movies you direct.

- Jodie Foster

Think, Movie, I Think, Direct

But the reason I became, why I wanted to be in the business was because there was Midnight Cowboy.

- Jodie Foster

Reason, Midnight, Became, Cowboy

I think 'destiny' is just a fancy word for a psychological pattern.

- Jodie Foster

Destiny, Think, Fancy, Word

Every movie changes you. The process of making a film changes you.

- Jodie Foster

Process, Movie, Making, Changes

All the movies that I make in some ways have to be the story of my life. There are different chapters in my life.

- Jodie Foster

Life, My Life, Some, Chapters

I read more than I do anything else, probably. I read about three books a week.

- Jodie Foster

Week, Books, Read, Anything Else

The best reason to make a film is that you feel passionately about it.

- Jodie Foster

Reason, Feel, About, Passionately

I will always love psychology, and the basis of psychology is family.

- Jodie Foster

Love, Will, Always, Psychology

I've always had this idea that I wanted movies to make people better not worse.

- Jodie Foster

Movies, Better, Always, Worse

I'm kind of a chatterbox and I talk really fast.

- Jodie Foster

Kind, Talk, Really, Fast

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