Foster cements her hometown legacy

First and foremost, she’s an Angeleno.

Jodie Foster was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hollywood. So, when she put her feet in cement on April 19 in the TCL Chinese Theatre forecourt, she wasn’t just cementing her legacy in film, she was leaving her mark in the place she’s always called home.

“I grew up here,” Foster said. “I grew up off Cahuenga.”

For the actress, Hollywood was summer barbeques, night-blooming jasmines, listening to the nearby Hollywood Bowl and folding fitted sheets at a laundromat on Franklin Avenue.

“Hollywood, for all of us in a way, is this [symbolic] space that’s about iconography and about dreams and fantasies, and for me it isn’t. It’s very concrete,” Foster said.

She recalled going out to eat with her family at Musso & Frank’s Grill, and then stopping by the Chinese forecourt, measuring her hands and feet against the Golden Age stars. She knew she wanted her prints to be there, too.

“[It was] not because I wanted to be a movie star, but because I wanted to be real … and a real person puts their hands and feet in cement, and somehow what they do matters, not just for this generation but for other generations,” she said.

It started when she was just 3 years old with a 1965 appearance in a Coppertone commercial. From there, she became a popular child actor, with guest spots on “The Doris Day Show,” “Gunsmoke,” “Ironside” and “The Partridge Family.” She was the voice of Pugsley on the animated “The Addams Family” series in 1973. She played the Tatum O’Neal role in a short-lived TV sitcom adaptation of “Paper Moon.” She appeared in movies, including “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and had starring roles in “Napoleon and Samantha” and “Tom Sawyer” as Beverly Thatcher. She was a steady, working actress.

But everything changed for Foster in 1976.

She appeared in five movies released that year, including the Disney film “Freaky Friday,” the musical comedy “Bugsy Malone,” and – significantly – “Taxi Driver,” which garnered her first Oscar nomination at just 14 years old.

At the hand and footprint ceremony, which was held as a part of the Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz praised her performances in the 1976 films.

“She is nothing short of amazing in every single one of those movies,” Mankiewicz said. “I really believe that Jodie Foster would’ve earned her handprints and footprints outside this wonderful, legendary theater if she had stopped her acting career after 1976 … But of course, Jodie did not stop. She made the difficult transition to adult roles, and quite simply became one of the great actors of her generation.”

Foster continued working in the ensuing years, but education came first for Foster – who took a break from acting to get her college degree in African-American literature from Yale. Following graduation, she struggled to rediscover the success of her teen years, with films like “O’Hara’s Wife” and “Stealing Home” failing to find audiences.

But “The Accused,” in which she played the challenging role of an acerbic sexual assault victim, established Foster as a Hollywood heavyweight. Both it and her follow-up, “The Silence of the Lambs,” in which she portrayed the iconic character Clarice Starling, won her Best Actress Academy Awards. She moved into directing, starting with the hit film “Little Man Tate.” Foster prospered both in front and behind the camera throughout the next decade. “Sommersby,” “Maverick,” “Nell” and “Contact” all helped Foster maintain her status as a top box office draw. The 2000s saw such hits like “Panic Room” and “Flightplan.” Her success has continued in recent years, landing another Oscar nomination for her role in “Nyad” this year and earning critical praise for her role in the recent season of “True Detective.”

At the TCL Chinese Theatre event, Foster was honored by her friend Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred in the 2003 remake of “Freaky Friday.”

“I want to remind us all, once in a while … the stars really do align in a magical way,” Curtis said. “And so, on this day, Friday – this freaky Friday, if you will – there is an amazing connect-the-dots between Jodie and me. Both born and raised in the same city, in the same industry, both who starred in versions of the same movie 27 years a part, but who met outside of show-off business. And who became part of a group of best friends who suit up and show up for each other in a very powerful and beautiful way.”

The event coincided with Foster’s 10th wedding anniversary to actress, director and photographer Alexandra Hedison.

“I cannot believe [she] was so generous to give up our 10-year anniversary day to come and do this with me – like, what are you thinking? How come you didn’t say no?” Foster joked.

It was a full circle moment for Hollywood’s hometown girl, encapsulating a career that’s stood the test of time.

“This has been my whole life – making films, living in Hollywood, creating a family of friends to do it with,” Foster said. “This is my life. I love my life, and I’m so grateful that all of you guys think I’m OK.”