Jodie Foster has expressed that her early success in Hollywood as a child actor, particularly with her Oscar-nominated role in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” shielded her from the sexual abuse that many young actors have faced in the industry.
The renowned actress garnered significant acclaim for her portrayal of a child sexual abuse victim in the 1976 film, which significantly boosted her acting career.
Throughout her career, Foster has built an impressive body of work, establishing herself as a prominent figure in the film industry.
“Taxi Driver” catapulted Foster to stardom, and the 63-year-old has stated that this success provided her with a level of power that protected her from abuse, as she gained influence in Hollywood at a young age.
In an interview with NPR, Foster reflected, “I’ve really had to examine that, like, how did I get saved? There were microaggressions, of course. Anybody who’s in the workplace has had misogynist microaggressions. That’s just a part of being a woman, right? But what kept me from having those bad experiences, those terrible experiences? And what I came to believe … is that I had a certain amount of power by the time I was, like, 12.”
She elaborated, “So by the time I had my first Oscar nomination, I was part of a different category of people that had power and I was too dangerous to touch. I could’ve ruined people’s careers or I could’ve called ‘Uncle,’ so I wasn’t on the block.”
Foster also suggested that her personal traits and her direct approach to life contributed to her protection.
“It also might be just my personality, that I am a head-first person and I approach the world in a head-first way,” she explained. “It’s very difficult to emotionally manipulate me because I don’t operate with my emotions on the surface.”
She pointed out that “Predators use whatever they can in order to manipulate and get people to do what they want them to do. And that’s much easier when the person is younger, when the person is weaker, when a person has no power. That’s precisely what predatory behavior is about: using power in order to diminish people, in order to dominate them.”
Foster continues to value her experiences from “Taxi Driver” nearly five decades later.
Reflecting on her career, she told NPR, “What luck to have been part of that, our golden age of cinema in the ’70s, some of the greatest movies that America ever made, the greatest filmmakers, auteur films.”
If you’ve been affected by these issues or need to speak to someone regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)) is available 24/7 and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.