On managing motherhood, melting in
Malaysia and going cannibal with Hannibal
by H.W. Fowler | December 14, 1999
From Coppertone tyke to child star to Ivy Leaguer to double Oscar winner, Jodie Foster has never been short on accomplishments. But unlike many Hollywood achievers, the star of Taxi Driver, The Accused, Silence of the Lambs and Contact hasn't become complacent, affected--or predictable.
Shortly after giving birth to her son, Charles, she took off with him to Malaysia to shoot Anna and the King, the real-life story of a 19th-century English teacher whose sojourn in Siam inspired The King and I. It's not what you'd expect of a new mom, but then, Foster's made a career out of defying expectations.
I hear it was, like, 120 degrees in Malaysia, and you were making Anna and the King all done up in Victorian outfits.
Oh, it was so hot...so hot! There were just days when we all thought we were going to explode--hotter than anything you could ever experience.
It's true that you get used to the heat a little bit after a while, but even the Malays were sweating and going down like flies.
But as an actor, you're never physically comfortable, ever. The closest I've come to being comfortable was Nell, where I basically didn't wear any clothes.
Was the temperature the worst thing about the production?
Here's the thing: It was the bugs. And the elephant smell, although the elephants themselves were the best actors--easy to work with.
Which speaks volumes about the people you generally run into in this business. You have no real frame of reference for this, but do you ever think about what life would be like for you in another line of work?
I'd really love to take three or four months and do a job where there's absolutely no responsibility on my shoulders. A repetitive task that I could do very well, and then at 5 o'clock I could just stop thinking about it, drink a beer and watch Married...with Children.
I fantasize about that at least once a month.
Yet you don't work that much compared with other actors of your stature. You appear in a film about every two years, direct and produce now and then...
Well, it's amazing how you can not work and still have no time. But my company, Egg Productions, takes up a lot of time.
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