Jodie Foster reflected on working with “mini-me” Kristen Stewart in Panic Room
BY SCARLETT CLARKE, IMAGE BY COLUMBIA PICTURES
The 2002 thriller Panic Room saw Jodie Foster take on the role of Meg Altman, recently divorced mother of Sarah (Kristen Stewart) whose new home is invaded by burglars.
Both Jodie and Kristen were latecomers to the project, after Nicole Kidman and Hayden Panettiere left the film.
Jodie sat down with Variety for their Know Their Lines video series on YouTube. In the video, she correctly guessed the line “Get the f*** out of my house” was from Panic Room which prompted her to discuss her memories of being on set.
Jodie quickly turned to praising co-star Kristen Stewart, who was just 11-years-old at the time.
“The second I met Kristen Stewart, I was like ‘Oh, she’s my mini me.’ I just absolutely loved her,” Jodie said. “There was something just amazing that I had just fallen into this role where I got to be Kristen’s mom. And we seemed so alike, we had the same haircut. I spent so much time with [her].”
Despite the film’s notoriously claustrophobic set, Jodie recalled the experience as being a fun one, largely because of Kristen. Jodie said: “We had a tiny little room that’s eight feet by 14 feet. And I have never enjoyed being stuck in a closet with a person in my life so much as with Kristen Stewart as a kid.”
The Silence Of The Lambs actor shared that they would spend their time off-camera arguing about popular culture. “We’d talk about bands, and she thought that U2 was just a boy band,” Jodie laughed. “And I was like, ‘No, you’re wrong, that is not true!’”
Jodie remembered being surprised at the 11-year-old’s desire to pursue acting long-term. She said: “I was always like ‘Oh, she’s going to be so great when she grows up, but she’s not going to be an actor, right? Because she doesn’t have that personality.”
“She doesn’t like being the centre of attention,” the actor later added.
Jodie chuckled: “I was so shocked. I’m still shocked to this day. But now she’s a director, so who knows. She might be moving into her hyphenate.”
This follows Kristen’s feature directorial debut, The Chronology Of Water, as well as a recent interview where she said she would “love” to direct a Twilight reboot.
Earlier in the interview, Jodie shared that she herself had not wanted to be an actor. She said: “I have never had any desire to act. I became an actor at three because my brother did it, and he did it because the kid across the street did it.”
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