Jodie Foster, 61, reported that she has not performed in a play in more than 40 years due to a traumatic experience that occurred while she was involved in a university production.
The “True Detective” star revealed that she stepped away from the stage after John Hinckley Jr. tried to assassinate the then president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, to impress her. Hinckley was later cleared due to his psychiatric problems and admitted to hospital, however, the incident made Jodie’s world, who was just 18 at the time, “fall apart”.
In interview with Interview magazine with fellow actress Jodie Comer, from “Killing Eve”, Foster recalled the troubled period during her time at Yale University.
“I can finally admit that the only theater play I did in college was marked by great trauma. Production was scheduled for two weekends. I did the first, but between one weekend and the next, John Hinckley shot the president. It was an epic moment.”
Explaining what happened to Jodie Comer, 31, who was not born at the time of the attack in 1981, the star said: “It happened a long time ago. You probably don’t even know, but he shot [em Reagan] with the intention of impressing me. He had written letters to me, so it was a monumental situation.”
“The world fell apart, there were Secret Service agents everywhere, I had security guards and I was taken to an isolated house. Still, I had this stupid idea that ‘the show must go on’. I thought: ‘I have to do the second presentation’. I had just turned 18.”
Upon her return, Jodie directed her attention to a specific member of the audience, but later discovered that the man was carrying a firearm.
“There were people and cameras everywhere. I noticed a man in the front row, who was there for the second night in a row, and decided to spend the entire play shouting ‘f*** you, motherfucker!’ for him. I just decided he would be part of the play. The next day, we discovered that this man had a gun and had taken it to the performance, and then fled. So, I was in a class when a security guard arrived and threw me to the floor, which was extremely embarrassing as there were only 10 people in the room.”
Foster said he believes the challenging phase influenced his relationship with theater performance.
“It was a traumatic moment, and I never admitted that it could have influenced my decision to never do theater again. It’s all interconnected. I managed to convince myself to love and watch plays, but somehow I always felt like I couldn’t commit to acting. [no teatro] again.”
However, the veteran does not rule out a return to the stage. “I may become the first 80-year-old person to walk on stage with a walker,” joked the actress.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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