Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster says that before the success of Barbie, female directors were seen as a “risk.”
In an interview with Variety on Friday, Foster praised the success of the $1.4 billion blockbuster, claiming it was “new” for a female director.
“I've been really lucky to be in this business since the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, etc.,” Foster said. “Any progress or improvement in our audience translates into some kind of new thinking about who our marginalized voices are. In the past, they saw women as a risk. Why do they I don't know why they consider us a risk, 50% of the population! That thinking has changed now.”
Jodie Foster spoke about the importance of the success of the “Barbie'' movies. (Greg DeGuire/WireImage/Getty Images)
She continued, “They gave Greta Gerwig, who had a huge success like “Barbie,'' who had made two mostly independent films, the keys to the kingdom and said “Our most cherished… I’m going to give you my child.’ All the money will go to support that. It’s a first for women and I hope it continues.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Foster touted the value of behind-the-scenes representation.
“We had a lot of representation this year, and that's important, but just seeing faces isn't enough,” Foster said. “For example, in the case of Native Americans, we saw a lot of representation, but not a lot of stories that were centered. The person telling the story wasn't the point of view. “Detective” takes us to the next level of storytelling. Native issues from a native perspective. ”
“Barbie,'' directed by independent filmmaker Greta Gerwig, grossed $1.4 billion. (Hannah Lassen/Getty Images)
Foster himself has directed two films. His 2016 film Money Monster was a box office success. Female directors Jane Campion and Chloé Zhao also won Academy Awards for Best Director for 2021's The Power of the Dog and 2020's Nomadland, respectively.
But when it comes to box office success, Barbie's billion-dollar success was unusual for a single female director. “Frozen,” “Frozen II,” and “Captain Marvel” all had female co-directors and grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. Other films such as Wonder Woman and Mamma Mia! “Fifty Shades of Gray'' was also a huge success, even though it was directed by a single female director.
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On the acting front, Foster confessed in December that she gives “almost entirely maternal advice” to up-and-coming actresses to protect them.
Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster has directed two films to date. (Getty Images)
“I find myself reaching out to girls who could be my daughters and saying, 'Wait a minute, you're doing all these stupid things on your promotional tour. What the hell is going on? ?This is a bit of self-sabotage. You know better than that. Who is making you do this? And where is your mother?'' Foster said. I did.
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