Jodie Foster on the important reason she asked to be introduced to ‘authentic’ Bella Ramsey
The Oscar winner shared how Bella is a symbol of a new "vector of authenticity"
By Dale Fox
Jodie Foster has spoken of her admiration of fellow actor Bella Ramsey, after insisting the pair met at a recent awards event.
In an interview with the Guardian, Oscar-winning Foster reflected on the differences between being a young actor in the entertainment industry today compared to her early experiences decades ago. The pair met at the Elle Women in Hollywood ceremony in December.
Foster explained: “I reached out to Bella, because we’d never met, and said, ‘I want you to introduce me at this thing’, which is a wonderful event about actors and people in the movies, but is also very much a fashion thing.
“[Elle] are very proud of themselves because they’ve got every ethnicity, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but all the attendees are still wearing heels and eyelashes.’ There are other ways of being a woman, and it’s really important for people to see that.”
At the event, Ramsey wore what Foster described as “the most perfect suit, beautifully tailored, and a middle parting and no makeup.” Foster added she wouldn’t have been able to do the same thing at Ramsey’s age, “Because we weren’t free. Because we didn’t have freedom.”
“I lived in an incredibly segregated world”
The Oscar winner added she sees Ramsey, who uses they/them pronouns, as representing a “vector of authenticity” offering “the possibility of real freedom” for young talent. She added that her own generation faced restrictions, saying, “My lens wasn’t wide enough. I lived in an incredibly segregated world.”
Foster also recounted challenging gender assumptions with her two sons, who were confused by media depictions of how to “be a man.”
“There was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women – three women – it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy.
“And he watched television and came to the conclusion: ‘Oh, I just need to be an asshole. I understand. I need to be shitty to women and act like I’m a fucker.’
“And I was like: ‘No. That’s not what it is to be a man. That’s what our culture has been selling you for all this time.'”
Jodie Foster stars in the upcoming fourth series of True Detective: Night Country, coming to Sky Atlantic and Now on 15 January.