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BECAFILMFESTIVALʔCONTOURʔGETTYjodie foster hasn’t made many political films because they’re not so
entertaining to her. “Everybody is born and then they die. There’s nothing
new about that.” But all that changed for the Oscar-winner with her latest film
The Mauritanian (in theaters and streaming on February 12), which tells the true
story of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, who was held without being charged at Guan-
tanamo Bay from 2002 until 2016 on allegations he was a member of Al-Qaeda.
Foster plays defense attorney Nancy Hollander. “We let fear and terror discard
the rule of law and discard our own humanity,” says Foster, who adds it was the
“first-person look at the life and the character of this Muslim man” that inspired
her to do this film. “We were all there to serve his story,” she says. Of course,
getting that story out was more difficult because of the pandemic, the impact of
which, Foster says, has accelerated what Hollywood has known for years: “There
will be a major shift in audience habits and in the strength and power of stream-
ers.” But Foster says she’s ready. “Look, I’m happy to act on an iPhone” [laughs].
Jodie Foster
Why do you think this story is so
relevant right now?
It’s about a dark moment in our history
as a country. We have these moments
in time that we have to revisit and
recognize our part in and see where
our emotions got the best of us.What was it about Nancy Hollander
that stood out to you?
Most people don’t know a lot about
her. That allowed me to change parts
of her character in order to serve
Mohamedou’s story. I had to basically
say, “Look, she’s going to be rude and
short with people and self-protective.”
She’s had to build walls of protection
in order to uphold her mission.Did the way you approach a role
change after you started directing?
I remember being 6 or 7 on this
television show and an actor who I’d
been working with was the director
that day. My mind was blown. So I
always had my eye on that. How I’ve
worked as an actor is a little bit like a
director; it wasn’t a big switch.The Silence of the Lambs’ 30th
anniversary is coming up. Did you
foresee it becoming such a classic?
I’m kind of in awe of that movie. For
me, it’s the best movie I’ve ever made
by far. It’s timeless. But I have to also
give credit to the Thomas Harris book
because it was that text. Literally,
Ted Tally’s ɿrst draft was virtually the
script that was shot. So it really did
feel like there was something magical
about it. —H. Alan Scott“We let fear
and terror
discard the
rule of law
and discard
our own
humanity.”PARTING SHOT48