Through Oscar nomination for “Nyad”
That’s why Jodie Foster is already making history
Jodie Foster (r.) alongside her “Nyad” colleague Annette Bening, who was also nominated.
© Kimberley French/Netflix
Jodie Foster was once a regular among the Oscar nominees. Now, thanks to “Nyad,” she’s making a historic return.
Foster’s newly announced nomination for the biographical drama “Nyad” came more than 30 years after that memorable Oscar moment, which no other film has been able to repeat since. Although Annette Bening (65) embodies the eponymous long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad (74), Foster’s nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” is memorable and even historic.
Your controversial breakthrough
Jodie Foster was just 14 years old when director legend Martin Scorsese (81) sent her onto the screen in his socially critical masterpiece “Taxi Driver”: her performance as the child prostitute Iris was as controversial as it was impressive and was her breakthrough the actress – along with her first Oscar nomination in 1977, where Beatrice Straight (1914-2001, “Network”) snatched the award from under her very young nose.
There are 47 years between her first and her current Oscar nomination. Foster narrowly missed a new record: Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), at the age of 48, still holds the record among female stars in this regard. Until last Tuesday (January 23rd) she even held the record across genders, but then Foster’s “Taxi Driver” Robert De Niro (80) turned the corner very narrowly. With his nomination for “Killers of the Flower Moon” – and of course once again thanks to Scorsese – De Niro is now 49 years old between his first and last Oscar nomination.
The triple could be on the cards
If Foster is honored in March for her supporting role in “Nyad,” it would be her third Academy Award. Three years before the “Big Five” coup with “The Silence of the Lambs,” she won Best Actress for her role in the court drama “Accused.” In 1995 she had another chance to be a leading actress, but her part in the drama “Nell” was not honored – Jessica Lange (74) received the prize for “Operation Blue Sky” instead.
Despite these numerous nominations and Academy triumphs, an Oscar for “Nyad” would have special meaning for Foster. It wasn’t until 2007, more than ten years after her last Oscar nomination, that she made her relationship with her ex-partner Cydney Bernard (70) official. Foster, who is now married to Alexandra Hedison (54), is now the first public LGBTQ actress, which can also hope for a golden boy for portraying an LGBTQ person. In 2024, this constellation will be represented twice, because the homosexual actor Colman Domingo (54) is also nominated for the portrayal of a homosexual character thanks to “Rustin” – he is even nominated as a leading actor.
Only the film gods know whether Foster will win in the end. With Emily Blunt (40, “Oppenheimer”), Danielle Brooks (34, “The Color Purple”), America Ferrera (39, “Barbie”) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (37, “The Holdovers”) she has strong, but not indomitable competition in its category. And she has already made history anyway.