Jodie Foster chose to publicly come out as gay when she collected the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 70th Golden Globes because she wanted to celebrate her achievement in a "special way".
The ‘Silence of the Lambs’ star was presented with the lifetime achievement award for her work in film in 2013 and used her acceptance speech in front of Hollywood’s finest and a global audience to reveal she was a lesbian, admitted she had come out a "thousand years ago back in the Stone Age" in her private life.
Jodie always looks back on that night with pride and fondness because it was the perfect way for her to let the world know who she was.
When asked about that famous night by Italian publication IO Donna, she said: "It’s been a while, hasn’t it? It was a wonderful evening and a great honor for me to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is a recognition of your career, not just one thing. I wanted to celebrate it in a special way, because it marked a moment of transition in my life – between the past and the future … The message was quite clear. I am absolutely grateful to have this crazy job and to get to have a wonderful life as an artist. I’ve been doing it since I was three, it was hard, but it was also a blessing. Both things."
The 55-year-old actress – who is mother to two sons, 19-year-old Charlie and 16-year-old Kit – can be seen in her first film role for five years in Drew Pearce’s American neo-noir crime film ‘Hotel Artemis’ after spending the last few years working behind the camera as a director.
Jodie accepts that now she is older the roles on offer will change and that there is huge pressure for women in Hollywood to look a certain way, but she will not go under the knife to conform to a beauty standard expected by society.
She said: "This is a question that arises after 40. Over the years the face reflects, in a crude way, the tragedy and the comedy of your life. I like it, I’m not a vain type, and I’ve never based my career on my looks, I’ve always considered myself above all as an actor. It intrigues me to see how my skin and face changes, I do nothing to stop that process. I have had a full, rich life, and it always encourages me to play characters that have depth, that have meaning."
Jodie Foster is proud she came out at Golden Globe Awards
