Born in 1962, American actress and director Jodie Foster rose to fame at a young age with her critically acclaimed performance as a child prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver. Her precocious and complex portrayal earned her an Academy Award nomination, marking the beginning of a distinguished career in Hollywood. After a successful run as a child actor, appearing in various Disney films and television shows, a period of academic pursuit at Yale University allowed her to reevaluate her initial perception of acting as an “unintelligent” profession, realizing it was her true calling. Foster’s breakthrough came in 1988 with her performance in The Accused, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Three years later, she solidified her status as a leading dramatic actress with her acclaimed role as FBI agent Clarice Starling in the critically acclaimed The Silence of the Lambs (1991), earning her a second Oscar. She took on several more iconic roles in films like Contact (1997) and Panic Room (2002). In addition to her acting prowess, Foster has also found success as a director, making her directorial debut with the 1991 drama Little Man Tate and later helming films such as Home for the Holidays (1995) and Money Monster (2016). She has also directed episodes of several television series, including Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019) and House of Cards (2013-2018). Throughout her career, Jodie Foster has maintained a private personal life, later publicly acknowledging her homosexuality and marrying photographer Alexandra Hedison in 2014.
