Jodie Foster Says Turning 60 'Was the Best Shift of All' After 'Struggling' During Her 'Tough' 50s

The actress recalled wondering whether she would 'do anything meaningful again' with her career during her 50s

Jodie Foster is sharing why she's enjoying her 60s.

The director/actress spoke with Past Lives star Greta Lee for Interview magazine. During the conversation, Foster, who cast Lee in her 2016 movie Money Monster, spoke about struggling in her 50s and how she's feeling now at 61.

"I think it’s an age thing, because I felt these huge shifts the day I turned 30 and the day I turned 60. And 60 was the best shift of all, because I was struggling in my 50s," Foster said after Lee, 40, referred to "ascribing to this idea of being a somewhat tortured artist" to her early career.

Foster, who became famous as a child star, recalled wondering whether she would "do anything meaningful again" in her 50s and described "that awkward phase where everybody who’s in their late 40s or 50s is very busy getting all plumped and shooting s--- into their face."

"I didn’t want that life," she said, "but I also knew that I couldn’t compete with my old self. So my 50s were tough.

But, Foster said "something happened when I turned 60," and "I was like, 'I figured it out. This is good.' There was something about going back to the work with a different attitude, I think. About really enjoying supporting other people and saying to myself, 'This is not my time. I had my time. This is their time, and I get to participate in it by giving them whatever wisdom I have.' "

Related: Jodie Foster's Wife Alexandra Hedison Shares Birthday Tribute to Actress: 'Loving You Is Easy as Cake'

The two-time Oscar winner stars alongside Annette Bening in the new film Nyad, a biopic of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, on Netflix. Foster is also in the upcoming season of HBO's True Detective: Night Country.

"Somehow it’s so much more satisfying to be a part of a team that’s doing something awesome than it is to be all on your own trying to jump up that hill and make something out of nothing while everybody’s like, 'Is it going to open well?' " Foster said in the Interview article.

"And the pressure I had being a leading lady? Gosh, it all disappears the minute you say, 'No.' It’s shocking how great that is."

Related: Nyad PEOPLE Review: Annette Bening Gives Her Boldest Performance Ever in Distance-Swimmer Biopic

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Foster said she finds working in entertainment "more fun now than it has been, certainly in the last 20 years," and that she actually finds herself more at home as a director than an actor.

"I think maybe if I have one regret in my career, it’s that I wasn’t able to make more movies as a director, but I’m really proud of the films that I made," she said. "They weren’t these gigantic hits, but they’re really personal stories that mean a lot to me."

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