Celebrating Jodie’s Joy

The Great Ms. Foster Seems Happy at Last

My favorite moment at this year’s Academy Awards did not happen on the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

It happened on the red carpet when Jodie Foster was stopped by host Julianne Hough and asked about the movie Nyad, for which she was nominated for her fifth Oscar, this time for her supporting role alongside Best Actress nominee Annette Bening. Foster herself has won two Oscars for Best Actress.

Foster seemed so joyful and relaxed talking about the experience of making the film and working with Bening. She was fully engaged in the short conversation with Hough. Later, during the broadcast, the camera panned to her several times and she appeared to be having fun, laughing at the jokes and applauding the winners.

It hasn’t always been so.

In 2013, Foster received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, kind of a lifetime achievement award. Foster, always somewhat reticent about her personal life, had to give a speech that night. At the time, the country was two years away from legally recognizing gay marriage and there seemed to be a fever of outing Hollywood celebrities who were deemed too closeted.

Foster could have — and probably should have — focused on her films and thanked those who inspired or helped her along…