Is there a thing where people know you speak French,
they're like, 'does she speak other languages?'
Yeah they do, they always insist that I speak German.
I don't speak German!
That's Sandra Bullock's thing! I don't do that!
Sandy Bullock's not me!
More than a few iconic roles later,
Jodie Foster is doing what she originally wanted to do -
directing.
Here is Australia with her fourth movie, Money Monster,
about a hostage situation and high finance,
all on a live TV set.
Don't move.
Is this a union thing?
Oh Jesus!
When you spend a bit of time away from movie sets,
do you miss it?
I really miss it.
Really? Why? What is it?
Well, it's my whole life.
It's how I spent - I feel like I spent more time
on movie sets than anywhere else.
So I always feel a little lost if I haven't been
on a movie set for a little while.
I'm really comfortable in that group of 170 people
during the day,
and each person has their task,
and you know what your job is,
and there's an understandling, like a handshake,
about when you get in someone's face
and when you don't.
I don't know - I just feel totally at home.
Do you feel like you were raised a bit by a village,
going from set to set as a kid?
Yeah, definitely.
I do feel like it was a bunch of family members
and mostly guys, honestly. Mostly guys
who were teaching me the etiquette of being on a set.
You always show up on time,
and when the first AD calls you and says
you need to come to set, you come immediately.
You don't take another phone call.
There's an etquette - I think there's an etiquette to it.
You see, you don't even know! I'm not stupid.
I told you - because somehow these clowns
lost $800 million overnight.
Overnight.
And nobody's even actually explained how.
How is something like that even possible?
It's not a rhetorical question - I want an answer.
What do you want from me man, I don't run IBIS,
I'm just a guy on TV.
Shut up, Lee!
Shut up!
Each one of the characters feels like it's
a part of myself.
And the two male characters are trying to figure out
how much they're worth.
They look at money as a way to ascribe value
to themselves -
if I just make $10, then I'm worth $10.
And i Ii just lost $10 then I'm worth nothing.
In my life, I think if I was successful
and if my movies were doing well,
or if I was making a lot of money,
then that means that I'm valuable.
Because people are applauding.
And you have to learn to get over that.
You have to learn that you're not your job.
How long did it take you to unlearn that?
I think I figured it out last week?
Just before your fourth film opens at the box office?
Just before, yeah.
So your self-worth is not linked to
the box office performance of this film?
That's right!
You do have to have a mantra about it -
every time that I release a movie,
I usually send an email to everybody on the film
on the Thursday before it's released,
and I say, congratulations, we made a movie.
Because that's really a coup - that's an amazing thing.
And you have to stand for the movie -
whether it does well or it doesn't do well.
As a child though, you were kind of the breadwinner,
at a certain point for your family.
Is there a bit of pressure that came with that?
There's a lot of pressure that comes with
being a breadwinner in your family.
Yeah, I was the only source of income for my family.
That's an incredible amount of pressure.
Yeah, it is.
I mean, I think my DNA is designed to handle it,
but I definitely am marked by my childhood.
And I think in good ways too.
I mean, I don't think it's all bad.
But yeah, it was hairy.
It's Christmastime, and I got a present that
was too expensive,
andI would be like, I don't want it!
I don't want it! Because I knew we couldn't afford it.
What's the good end of that?
I get in interviews like this people ask you about
that time a lot, and it always get framed
in the language of trauma,
so what's the good side of that?
We have a game in my family called Childhood Trauma.
Really? This I have to hear.
Tell me about Childhood Trauma.
Childhood Trauma is when there's something
that you can't do,
like you say, I can't go to Disneyland,
and you're like, I can't go to Disneyland
because I have Childhood Trama.
Every time I went to Disneyland this happened,
and then we all have to explain our Childhood Trauma.
It's good and bad, right?
It's just - that's what neurosis is. Good and bad.
Does it change the way you approach
young people on set?
Does it change the way you address them?
Yeah, it does.
I am very careful when I work with young people.
to not do all the things that I hated as a child.
What did you hate? What were the sorts of things that
you'd never want to see done?
Well I didn't like it when directors, when I was 6 or 7,
tried to manipulate me.
i don't like being manipulated at all.
I have a complete allergy to it.
So they would say things like,
'oh, how does your dog feel? Because I think
your dog isn't feeling well'.
I just be like, no!
That's to elicit a crying reaction from you?
Yeah, to try to elicit some reaction
or 'let's talk about when your mom was sick'.
And i was like, 'how about we talk about
when your mom was sick?'
Yeah, I just made me cold. It made me mad.
Any time I feel manipulated, suddenly I just...
my horns start coming out of me.
Steam starts coming out of my ears.
Is it true that when you were 14,
your agent punched a producer?
Yeah, it is.
What happened?
Uh, he called me at a friend's house on the weekend
where I was having a sleepover,
the producer,
and he pretended that we had an appointment
that I had forgotten about.
And he had me come to the appointment,
my mom was out of town, he had me come,
and he was talking to me,
and then asked me to take my jacket off
and turn around, so he could see my body.
This is at 14 years old?
Yeah, I was like 14, and chubby with pimples,
and yeah, my agent went to his office
and punched him in the face.
Wow.
Trust me, 47 years in the film business
is a long time.
Just lastly, before I leave you,
what's the one thing you'd change
about the movie business?
What would I change about the movie business...
I feel like the respect for the director's vision
is gone in mainstream movies.
I think that's what was always wonderful about
the art of filmmaking.
It was about one signature. And one voice
that was at the helm.
It's what I always wanted to do as an actor,
was to serve a director.
That's why I was there, to serve a director.
But that's kind of gone now.
Well your one voice is very clear in Money Monster.
Jodie Foster, what an absolute pleasure.
Thank you so much for your time.