Hollywood royalty is very well-established and hasn't varied a lot in recent decades. Classic actors are the ones you always hear about, and Tinseltown's greatest directors and producers are usually the ones you see on Oscar night or preparing the next big franchise. No surprises at all.
However, if there's a performer who has always deserved to be such royalty, that actor is Jodie Foster. Clarice, Iris, and Nell. The winner of two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes is an experienced actor whose legacy speaks for itself and cannot be questioned. What's more important is that she's joined the ranks of industry actors who have become directors, and she's done a pretty good job in that regard as well.
Nevertheless, today we'll stick to the acting. Foster's range has always been exceptional. And while we wait for this to be proven once again with her performance in True Detective, which we're sure will elevate the series, here's a rundown of Jodie Foster's best performances.
10 Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver
- Release Date
- February 9, 1976
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Rating
- R
Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver tells the story of Travis Bickle, a war veteran who's forced to drive a taxicab in a gloomy version of '70s New York City. Bickle is a witness to the city's collapse from a moral perspective, and it affects him to the point of his collapse. Foster gives life to Iris, a 12-year-old sex worker who Bickle connects with and becomes his main motivation to "save" the city.
What's Great About Foster's Performance
The fall of man, a principal theme in the film, is finely represented by the character of Iris. Due to her participation in giving life to the very controversial character, Foster had to undergo a thorough analysis because of her young age, as producers felt she was too young to play a prostitute and evidence the mayhem that is the film's third act. However, Foster's confident display of innocence mixed with her connection to a very broken man resulted in her receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She was a child prodigy, and her performance in Taxi Driver is great proof of this.
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9 The Accused (1988)
1989's The Accused was Foster's transition to becoming an adult actor. And what a performance she gave! In the film, she plays Sarah Tobias, a woman who gets sexually assaulted in a bar, and right after, she decides to do everything in her power to get a trial. Sarah pairs up with District Attorney Kathryn Murphy as they set out to prosecute the men who participated in the attack and also those who encouraged it.
Why Foster's Performance Belongs Here
The Academy Award-winning performance by Foster is a classic and undoubtedly one of her best. She doesn't merely play a surviving victim who stands up to the circumstances. This calls for Foster's performance to be raw and emotional when it must be. The depth of Sarah's trauma is visible throughout, but she doesn't deny who she was before or how it may have affected people's consideration of the attack. It was a strong return to Hollywood after Foster had temporarily retired to go to Yale and get her degree. Now imagine doing that and receiving an Oscar.
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Contact
- Release Date
- July 11, 1997
- Rating
- PG
Contact, by director Robert Zemeckis, is based on Carl Sagan's book of the same name and tells the story of Ellie Arroway, a scientist who participates in humankind's first contact with alien intelligence. Arroway plays a key role in building the machine the aliens tell us to build to accomplish... something. But she's also the only one who can represent us in such an important process, and it all has to do with her past, her beliefs, and her views.
Why We've Included Contact
Foster's Ellie Arroway is doubtful and flawed during humanity's most important moment. Fortunately, the actor imprints dramatic depth on the role and gets rid of the levity that audiences would normally associate with the science fiction genre. There's probably no one better than Foster for the role, because it calls for just the right amount of expression and physicality that's needed for this sci-fi film that feels tailor-made for someone as dramatically fierce as Foster.
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7 Carnage (2011)
Carnage
- Release Date
- September 16, 2011
- Rating
- R
Roman Polanski's Carnage is based on the play Le Dieu du Carnage, and it tells the story of four people who decide to have a dinner party to solve something very awkward. They're two couples whose children get into a violent fight, so they decide to speak and come to an agreement in regards to how to treat the situation. Of course, their personalities collide, and real feelings come to light.
Why Carnage Belongs Here
This black comedy is carefully driven by all four performers, who play a great devolving process as they turn from cordial people to childish and obnoxious adults. John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz accompany Foster in this "comedy of errors" that features a hilarious depiction of a Fellini-esque side of society whose true face is only revealed in the middle of chaos. And yes, it's too late. Foster's sober performance as Penelope Longstreet is her best in the last two decades.
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6 Sommersby (1993)
Sommersby is a 1993 romantic drama with a pinch of mystery. In the film, Foster plays Laurel Sommersby, a widow whose husband is presumed dead after leaving to fight in the Civil War. She has advanced in her life and is ready to remarry, when, suddenly, Jack Sommersby shows up at the front door. After reconnecting with the man she thought had died, she starts suspecting Jack may not be who he says he is.
What's Great About Foster's Performance
Foster's portrayal of a transition from a hopeful widow to a woman reencountering the demons of her past is accomplished with her usual versatility and highly emotional range. She makes us believe in Laurel's fear of reuniting with something she was glad to leave behind. But she doesn't exactly speak out loud and represents a female figure in the mid-1800s, when women weren't "supposed" to follow their intuition. But Foster does a great job at giving her character the necessary "switch" to make her a hero on her own terms.
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5 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs is a classic horror thriller starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins that tells the story of FBI specialist Clarice Starling hunting down a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. Due to Hannibal Lecter's knowledge of psychology, he could be the key to understanding how Bill works, and this puts Starling in the vulnerable student's position as Lecter has been imprisoned because of cannibalistic crimes.
Why Silence of the Lambs Is One of Jodie Foster's Best
Foster's participation as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs will forever be recognized as the actor's most important performance. Starling is prey in a den of wolves, as her line of work is mostly dominated by men, but early on, Foster's unrestrained performance confirms Starling is capable of standing above them and more. And then she meets Lecter, and all bets are canceled. The chemistry between the two is reminiscent of the relentless magnetism between opposite sides that can't be mixed. But their almost romantic relationship is perfectly represented by two actors at their best, and the direction such a relationship takes is anything but questionable. The very disturbing film had the ability to be accepted into the mainstream, mostly because of its two leads.
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4 The Brave One (2007)
The Brave One tells the story of Erica Bain (Foster), a New York City radio host who decides to go on a rampage of vigilante justice after she's brutally attacked, her dog is taken from her, and her fiancé is killed in an attack by random criminals. The attack and grief have left her traumatized, but this doesn't stop her from purchasing a gun and doing what law enforcement and justice entities can't do: punishing those who deserve it.
What's Great About Her Performance in The Brave One
Neil Jordan's dramatic thriller was a great opportunity for Foster to approach a genre-based role in modern times. Although her performance was highly acclaimed, the film failed to stir up a strong reaction among critics and audiences, and it was soon forgotten. Nevertheless, it's one of the actor's signature roles in recent decades because of how realistic the embodiment of trauma is. Not only from a physical point of view but, as Foster usually does, from the emotional twirl a situation like vigilante justice can represent for a victim. She slowly gets closer to it, and once she wields a gun, she turns into someone else. Inevitably.
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3 Nell (1994)
Michael Apted's drama Nell tells the story of Jerry Lovell, a town doctor who's forced to take care of a bizarre situation. Violet Kellty, a lady living in a remote mountainous area in North Carolina, suddenly dies, and Lovell discovers she didn't live alone. There's a young woman hiding in the house. Nell, as the notes from the lady say she's called, is a child who's developed her own language and her own universe. At first, she angrily responds to Lovell's approach to caring for her, but the man seeks help from Doctor Olsen, who will help society see the truth about Nell and her special way of communication.
Why We Included Nell
A powerhouse performance by Foster. Nell is heavily inspired by the Poto and Cabengo twin sisters, who developed an eerie language to speak among themselves before the age of eight. In fact, the character of Nell has a dead twin sister whom she developed a language with after her mother had a stroke, and her speech became limited. It's the first thing that strikes from Foster's very underrated role, but her physicality comes in a close second. Her general expression, her rejection of winking, and how she can conceal the whole universe inside of her. They're key to understanding how strong her character is and what she ultimately represents in the film's third act, when Nell suffers from the scrutiny of a society that can't understand her, and aims to treat her as nothing but a feral child. This one proves Foster stands above many actors of her generation.
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2 Flightplan (2005)
Flightplan
- Release Date
- September 22, 2005
- Rating
- PG-13
Flightplan tells a fascinating story. Kyle Pratt is traveling back home from Germany after losing her husband, and together with her six-year-old daughter Julia, they decide to bring the body to the U.S. to give it a proper burial. But then Kyle falls asleep, and her daughter is nowhere to be found. But surely she couldn't have gone out, as the plane is in mid-flight. The problem is that when she tells the crew, they find there's no evidence of Julia's existence, and Kyle's evidence to prove it vanishes.
Why Flightplan Makes the List
This modern version of The Lady Vanishes features Foster in a very grounded and restrained performance. But this doesn't mean she doesn't do an excellent job of giving life to a desperate mother who ultimately ends up questioning her own sanity in a great depiction of the usual and real trope of "female hysteria.", only this time it's on a plane. The mystery is fueled by the fact that Pratt is a plane-building engineer, and she knows every single thing about the aircraft, so she knows where to go once she understands she isn't exactly mad, like everyone paints her out to be.
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1 Maverick (1994)
maverick
- Release Date
- May 20, 1994
- Rating
- PG
Maverick, Richard Donner's modern rendering of the '50s TV series and one of the best movies he ever made, tells the story of Bret Maverick, a card player who uses every resource he can use in order to enter a poker tournament. This includes conning his way into just about every game out there. But he doesn't do it alone. When he meets Annabelle Bransford (Foster) and then Zane Cooper, they'll all participate in the outfit because they're no strangers to the con game as well.
Why Her Performance in Maverick Is Among Her Best
The fun-spirited Western comedy by Donner isn't precisely one of Foster's usual contributions. But this was the '90s, and out of fear of being typecast in dramatic roles, Foster decided to have some fun, and what fun she had. Annabelle Bransford is a quick-witted lady whose poker skills are only visible to Maverick, and they develop the smart relationship they end up having. Foster is noticeably having fun in Maverick, and she transmits this very loudly with a strong, heavy-accented character that remains a fan favorite and a very whimsical twist to her usual performances.
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Considering The Silence of the Lambs is Jodie Foster's most important film, here's a video of truly important facts about the movie:
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