Jodie Foster shares her experience of directing George Clooney and Julia Roberts and how women are very sensitive to not throwing away their dreams and making sure to fulfill them
Was directing Money Monster different from anything you’ve done beforeIJ
The movie’s very meaningful to me. It has a lot of resonance about the modern world and my feelings about it, about failure and how wrapped up we all are in our ideas of value. All that stuff is meaningful to me, and then you wake up and go, ‘Wow, I made a popcorn movie.’
Tell us something about the movie.
It’s in the world of finance and the world of media, and how they connect. It was a big undertaking. A big, mainstream movie, which stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney. But for me, it’s really just a small story about character and people. Everything else is there to serve that beautiful small nugget or story between these two people, exploring the bigger meanings: why money and value get combined. We think, “If I have more money, I am more valuable. If I make more money, I am more valuable.” It’s all sort of wound up with this problem that humans have with their failure. “What do I do to not feel like a failureIJ I get married or I have children or I make money or I become famous...these kind of stuff.
How was it like to work with George ClooneyIJ
One of the things that’s interesting about George is he doesn’t really want anyone to touch him. He doesn’t really want anybody to apply a microphone or button his shirt or tuck in his pants. He does his vest himself [laughs]. Nobody touches the vest.
How was it like to work with Julia RobertsIJ
Through what I refer to as “the miracle of filmmaking,” Roberts — who plays lee’s producer Patty Fenn — Clooney filmed their parts at entirely different times. It was a much different scenario than prior films in which they’ve co-starred, including two Ocean’s movies and the 2002 thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which Clooney also directed. The difficulty of Roberts’s role was a feat of magic on her part.
What were the challenges you faced while shooting the movieIJ
The production required several street closures for shots in and around Wall Street. But the logistics of it were not the most challenging aspects of making the movie. We had a thousand extras at one point, SWAT guys, a helicopter, a G5 (jet) landing! But the hardest part of the movie is the part that was shot in room that’s about four feet by 10 feet: the control room with Julia Roberts. It’s where we filmed roughly three-quarters of the movie, and where Roberts acted opposite no one. She was staring at monitors that either had green on them or that had pre-recorded material that she had to match her dialogue.
As a director, how important is casting to youIJ
The first movie I directed, I had never been in a room after an actor leaves and heard producers say things like, ‘He’s too short, he’s too fat.’ I was just appalled. So I’ve always made it a mission to be as generous as possible because it's such a gift they come in with such an open heart
Has Hollywood really opened up to women film-makers like yourselfIJ
There have always been, although not in the greatest numbers, independent female filmmakers. There have always been international filmmakers that were women. It really was America that was has been the last in the mainstream arena. It took us this long to get here and I think women are very sensitive to not throwing away their dreams when they finally get a taste of their dreams.
What are the challenges that you face with being an actor and directorIJ
It’s shocking how little I’ve been able to figure out how to get movies off the ground and to find opportunities for personal films. I do really want to focus on this. But you actually have to carve out the time. The acting, it will suck everything else out. You can’t squeeze in a director’s career. You have to go out on a ledge and say, ‘OK, this is what I’m doing now.’
Do you often think of yourself as a failureIJ
Oh yeah. Oh my God, yeah. If Mother Teresa is propelled to do good works because she believes in God, I am propelled to do good works because of how bad I feel about myself. It’s the first place I go. ‘Oh, what did I do wrongIJ’
What were the highs and lows of growing up in the limelightIJ
When I was a kid, it felt — not in a big-headed way — but it felt like it was so easy. The older I got, the more insecurities start to take hold of you. I won’t be able to do it as easily as when I was younger. When I was younger, I was really worried about whether I was going to be good or not. That’s why, if someone said that I could be 20 again, I would turn them down. I was so filled with anxiety about, like, ‘Is anyone going to like meIJ’ And as the years went on, the anxiety started to leave.
