Jodie Foster Dedicates Women in Hollywood Acceptance Speech to Her Wife Alexandra Hedison

I’m going to get the mushy stuff out of the way, because I’m not a mushy person, or at least I’m not comfortable with it, so I might as well get the discomfort out of the way. Look at all these amazing ladies, amazing women. I am really blessed to be one of you and to be a part of this experience of watching the work, watching you change lives, watching you in those hot outfits. Then, of course, Bella Ramsey. I want to thank you so much for coming today. A complete stranger. You are definitely a sport. I asked you up here for entirely selfish reasons. I am here to embarrass you, grandma-style. Are you ready? You are an amazing, exciting talent, so true, so strong, clear in your work on The Last of Us. I, for one, want you to know that I have your back in this industry. I want you to go out there and be you in grace and freedom. Go, go, go. You are a new voice of a new generation of artists, and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

For me, it was a really long road to getting here today. And I don’t even mean the 405. Women. In. Hollywood. There is the title, there is the mindset, there’s also the cultural evolution of what those three words mean to any one of us. I personally grew up as a Girl in Hollywood, right near that swerve of the 101, the freeway at Cahuenga, eight blocks from Hollywood Boulevard is where I grew up. And I’m sure some of you remember when we used to do Premiere’s Women in Hollywood, when an entertainment magazine played an outsized role in ensuring that women’s creative work could be recognized. Then after that we became ELLE’s Women in Hollywood. So thank you ELLE for that space, where the iconography of beauty, power, and relevance could be woven onto a new tapestry of representations.

Many of us dreamed that someday, someday in the future-verse, we could just gather together and be Humans in Hollywood, a panoply of hearts and souls and and minds celebrating our messy beauty, sharing this awesome planet, grateful to cast aside the boxes that others had made for us and that we had gladly jumped inside. Hey, wait a minute... Humans in Hollywood? What does that mean? Does everything have to change now? What happens when you get rid of all the parties and awards shows just for women? No cha-cha heels? No two-inch eyelashes? No Spanx?...How am I supposed to hide my humanness now? What’s next? Oh my god. Not real pants with pockets! I can’t take it.

Whether we like it or not, the culture is shifting, and this new generation is challenging old definitions of personhood and genderhood and beinghood while reimagining a wider embrace of belonging. I don’t know about you, but this very old dog is marveling at all the new tricks. Hey, Women in Hollywood, we are all changing, all the time, every time that we catch someone’s eye, we hear their story, or we feel that electric connection of “me too” or “who what?” Isn’t that what making art was supposed to be about all along? Connecting. Affecting and being affected. But we really don’t have to worry. Remember what our kindergarten teachers told us: “You make new friends, and you keep your old friends.” So we don’t have to lose our sisters or our us, our old baggage and our beautiful patina of tragic/comic experiences just because we choose to be open to change.

So sure, back in my day, when I walked 10 miles to school and Neanderthals had just invented…pasta. Did I mention I’ve been working for 58 years? That’s usually my line. “What? You’re texting me my call sheet? Don’t you know I’ve been working for 58 years?” But back in my day, there were no women faces to greet me on set. There was the lady who played my mom, and there was sometimes a makeup artist here and there. But for the most part, it was me and a whole bunch of brothers and fathers who showed me the way. And I am so grateful for their love and guidance. For the most part, they did their very best. But now, I’ve got the sisters. And finally, Bella has sisters. All us ladies in this audience are doing our very best impression of being grown-ass women in Hollywood, even though we are completely effed up, occasionally self-hating, mired in a system that perpetuates our worst neuroses, insecurities, and objectifications. We’re sometimes resentful and ashamed, manipulative and fearful, badass and then too afraid to be honest. We’re a mess, sister ladies! Thank God that Greta Gerwig has the boobs to tell it like it is.

So, what do we do with all this overflowing complexity in a world that loves tidy little boxes? I guess we just fail miserably, joyfully, guiltily, shamefully together. That’s the triumph of redefining and reidentifying what it looks like to be a human. A shout-out to my human team, sitting at table two. All my besties over there...they make me laugh through all the ridiculousness and the struggles of life. My longtime professional collaborators like Jennifer Allen of Viewpoint. My favorite new collaborator Issa López, the showrunner of our True Detective: North Country limited-series on HBO...My CAA team Chris Andrews, Hylda Queally, John Campisi, and Joe Cohen. And lastly, the love of my life, partner in crime, who I can live it all with, beside, and for: my wife, Alex Hedison. I am grateful for every second of being your woman in Hollywood. Because all of this, this celebration of belonging, is what love looks like when it walks beside you in everything you do.

Thank you for this honor of belonging.