Jodie Foster

On the eve of coming to Australia for the world premiere of her latest movie, Nim’s Island, Jodie Foster spoke to The Weekly about fame, family and why she chose to star in a gentle chidren’s movie written by an Australian.

Take a look at our picture gallery of Jodie Foster throughout her career.

“Here,” says Jodie Foster, passing over her soup spoon, brimming with a glistening asparagus purée. “Try this.” Thirty minutes earlier, she had pulled up to a hotel in Santa Monica, California, in her silver Prius, hopped out and extended a friendly hand. Now she’s sitting in a restaurant overlooking the beach, not just giving away part of her first course, but serving it up on her own silverware. The act feels part maternal instinct (Jodie has two sons, Charlie, 10 this year, and Kit, six), part happy 45-year-old Hollywood A-lister on a roll.

In the past couple of years, thanks to the success of the thrillers Flightplan (2005) and Inside Man (2006), the actress’ box-office clout and status as an international star have both been reaffirmed. Mention this to Jodie, though, and she will just laugh, turning it into a self-deprecating joke about emerging from temporary retirement. “It’s because I decided to work more than once every three years,” she says.

For as long as we can remember — and she’s been at this for 42 years — Jodie Foster has been one of those smart, introspective public figures who has struggled to find new ways to maintain work-life sanity. If civilians can’t achieve it on her grand scale, they can still take heed. Since early adulthood, she has always followed up a movie shoot with an extended, battery-recharging break.

The Oscar-winning star of such confronting and suspense-filled films as Taxi Driver, Silence of the Lambs and The Accused talks about fame, fortune, plastic surgery and her two beautiful boys — and, why, after almost 40 years’ of movie-making, she decided to star in a sweet family film called Nim’s Island. For the full story, pick up your April issue of The Weekly — OUT NOW!