Jodie Foster Pays Tribute to Jonathan Demme, ‘A Champion of the Soul’

Jodie Foster remembered the late Jonathan Demme, who directed the actress in her Oscar-winning turn in “The Silence of the Lambs,” with a touching statement to media outlets on Wednesday.

“I am heart-broken to lose a friend, a mentor, a guy so singular and dynamic you’d have to design a hurricane to contain him,” she said in the statement. “Jonathan was as quirky as his comedies and as deep as his dramas. He was pure energy, the unstoppable cheerleader for anyone creative. Just as passionate about music as he was about art, he was and will always be a champion of the soul. JD, most beloved, something wild, brother of love, director of the lambs. Love that guy. Love him so much.”

Foster played Clarice Starling in the 1991 horror classic, starring alongside Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glenn. Along with Foster’s award for best actress, “Silence of the Lambs” also won Oscars for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, and best actor for Hopkins.

In her 1992 Oscars speech, Foster gave a special shout-out to Demme, thanking the director “not just for his talent, but for his goodness.”

Demme died Wednesday in his Manhattan apartment due to cancer complications. Along with “Silence,” Demme also won acclaim for such films as “Philadelphia” and “Beloved.”

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