Jodie Foster was in southern France for the premiere of ‘A Private Life’, a psychological thriller in which she assumes the role of a psychiatrist who tasks herself with investigating the death of her patient, played by Virginie Efira.
The U.S.-born actor, who won two Oscars for ‘The Accused’ in 1989 and ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ in 1992, had to speak in French only for the Cannes film that is screening out of competition.
Foster, 62, began her career filming commercials at the age of 3 and has received numerous awards throughout her career, including an honorary Palme d’Or award from Cannes in 2021.
“I’m really enjoying working outside the United States,” she said, recalling how she is not as tied down to the U.S. now as she was when her children were little and she had to stay close to home.
Foster, who first came to Cannes as a 13-year-old when she starred in ‘Taxi Driver’, said working as a director in France was better than in the U.S. because of more creative freedom.
Blending genres, like director Rebecca Zlotowski does in Foster’s new film, is very uncommon in the U.S., she said.
Studios want a film to be either a thriller or a comedy, they don’t want a mixture of the two, she said, whereas France allows the director to have more authority on such decisions.
“That’s the reason why filmmakers love to come here.”
In Europe, female directors also have had more opportunities compared with the U.S., said Foster, herself a director.
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“I’d only worked with one female director until a few years ago. Isn’t that kind of amazing? After I’ve made 60 movies that I’ve barely ever worked with another woman?” she said.
“Europe has always had a female tradition, or at least for quite a while. But in America, somehow that bias really took hold.”