“As a director, you have to understand, with every pore, every element of your movie… It’s harder physically than acting, but healthier emotionally, because you’re in control.” —Foster*

Born in Los Angeles in 1962, Jodie Foster is one of the most enduring, talented, intelligent, and versatile people in Hollywood. During a career which began when she was only two, Foster has proven her worth time and again, with two Best Actress Oscars (“The Accused,” 1988; “The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991) and a host of other prestigious awards and nominations. Her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress came at the tender age of 13 for her role as a prostitute in Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” (1976).

Although she is best known for her on-screen work, Foster’s passion is quite clearly best satisfied in a more conceptual capacity. After a couple of small attempts at directing and producing (TV series “Tales from the Crypt,” 1984, director; “Mesmerized,” 1986, co-producer), Foster’s directorial debut, “Little Man Tate” (1991) — a drama about a child genius where she plays the prodigy’s disadvantaged single mother — met with critical acclaim (and much speculation about its possibly biographical theme). In 1994, Foster produced and starred in the blockbuster “Nell,” receiving yet another Best Actress Oscar nomination. “Home for the Holidays” was her second venture into directing, and, of course, there continue to be plenty of plum acting roles between her own projects (e.g. “The Panic Room,” 2002).

Foster is currently producing and directing “Flora Plum,” a period piece where the director has once again cast Claire Danes (who played Clyde’s daughter Kitt in “Home for the Holidays”), alongside Meryl Streep and Ewan McGregor. McGregor’s part was originally to go to Russel Crowe, who sustained an injury while training for the film, resulting in a two-year hiatus for the project and the eventual recasting. “Flora Plum,” a film about a penniless girl taken in by a circus freak, is slated for release some time in 2004.