Direction is the next stop for Jodie Foster but the Hollywood star says she will never quit acting as it has been a part of her life since the age of three.
"I'm really excited about directing now and I think that's my focus. But I'll never stop acting. It's something that I've done since I was three and it's a way to express yourself that's unlike anything else," she said while promoting her directorial venture "Money Monster" at Cancun, Mexico.
A fast-paced financial thriller, starring A-listers Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Jack O'Connell in lead roles, the movie is being released by Sony Pictures Entertainment in India on May 13.
The actress, who won critical acclaim early in career with Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", considers the five decades she spent on the movie sets as her greatest cinema school.
Foster, 53, however, is not a huge fan of the celebrity culture.
"The part of it that I miss and the reason why I will continue acting is the part where somebody says 'Action' and then somebody says 'Cut'... It's everything from the beginning of the day to the end of the day.
"I'm not sure I miss the rest of it. I'm not sure I miss the celebrity culture. So, that's always just a balance. That's just something that you have to weigh and balance. But I will always continue acting and I know that that will be a part of my life in the future, and certainly in the not too distant future. But directing is my focus right now," she said.
Filmmaking has always interested Foster, who directed her very first feature film "Little Man Tate" in 1991, and followed it up with "Home for the Holidays" and "The Beaver", besides directing episodes of hit TV shows "Orange Is The New Black" and "House Of Cards".
The "Silence of the Lambs" star considers herself lucky to have had the chance to work in the "sixties, the seventies, the eighties, the nineties, the year two thousands and the year two thousand and ten."
"...Each one of those eras in some ways has been more interesting than the next, the seventies especially, the real golden age of American films, and I'm so proud to have been a part of that tradition in some small way. And it's definitely informed my sensibility. I'm excited about change. I'm excited about how my work has changed and how it's evolved," Foster said.
The actress-filmmaker counts Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis,
David Fincher, Lena Bertmueller and other filmmakers for being a huge influence in her career.
"I got to stare over the shoulders of some of the greatest filmmakers that we have, and I got to ask questions and really see people working at a really high level, and for that I will always be grateful. And I do feel like that informs my work and will continue to inform my work," she said.
There has been a lot of noise about diversity in Hollywood and even though Foster agrees that women directors are still outnumbered by their male counterparts, she does not believe that the situation is that bad.
"...The film world is changing and there are more films being made by women than there ever has been before. That's not really saying much, in the mainstream world. In the independent world, I think it's changing a lot faster. It's really the last bastion that needs to change in terms of diversity for women in Hollywood," she said.
Comparing the current situation with her growing up years in Hollywood, Foster said there were hardly any women technicians when she started.
"... When I was growing up there were none. So, there were very few technicians that were women, in fact, there never was. There was sometimes a makeup artist and that was about it. I was always surrounded by a bunch of guys. But things have changed. Not so much for directors and that's happening."
With Hollywood A-listers and a major studio Sony Pictures behind "Money Monster" a lot is riding on Foster and the filmmaker hopes that the movie does well at the box office.
"... I think all of us are hoping that women aren't seen as some sort of high risk category, that somehow, you know, hiring a woman director or bringing aboard a director or working with a woman director means that you're taking some huge risk.
"It's not any more of a risk than any other human being. And I think that the studios are finally understanding that," she said.
