Before she was an Oscar-winning icon, Jodie Foster had a brush with death—thanks to a full-grown lion.
In a jaw-dropping new interview, Foster revealed she was literally mauled by a lion while filming the 1972 Disney movie Napoleon and Samantha… and then went back to work like nothing happened.
“I was 8 or 9 years old,” she recalled. “The lion picked me up, shook me around, moved me horizontally, and then dropped me.”
Foster said she was left with four puncture wounds—two on each hip—and was immediately rushed to the hospital. The most terrifying part? The cameras had stopped rolling. The attack wasn’t even part of the scene.
The Silence of the Lambs star remembers being in shock, but one image is burned into her memory: the entire camera crew running for their lives.
“Then the trainer said, ‘Drop it,’ and the lion did,” Foster added.
She was treated for her injuries… and then returned to work with the same lion. “That was the scariest thing that has happened to me while making a movie,” she admitted.
Now 61, Foster says she’s embraced a quieter rhythm—taking out the trash, living life—until the itch to make movies kicks back in.
“I get obsessed with making a film,” she said. “Then I get resentful that all my time is gone… then I just want the thrill of ordinary life again. And then I get bored.”
Despite her Hollywood legend status, Foster refuses to hand her sons a shortcut into the industry.
Her son Charlie, who studied drama at Yale and has had only two acting roles, reportedly clashed with his mom over her refusal to “use her clout” to help him break in.
“She told him early on she wouldn’t prop up his career,” a source said. “She wants him to earn success, or it’ll be meaningless.”
Charlie doesn’t see it that way. He allegedly reminded his mom that her own mother helped launch her career when she was a child star. The debate has apparently sparked tension in the family, with Charlie feeling frustrated that he’ll “never climb anywhere near as high” as his mom.
Hats off to Jodie. If he can’t make it on his own, what makes him think he can make it just with mom’s reputation. You need to work for what you want. Good job Jodie.
I remember going to see that movie at the theater when I was a kid. It was a pretty good movie. Had a good story line.