Jodie Foster realises a dream

Press, 31 March 1989, Page 6

Jodie Foster realises a dream

NZPA-Reuter Los Angeles

Jodie Foster, who made her screen debut as a child and used to practice Oscar acceptance speeches in the shower, won the Best Actress Academy Award yesterday for her role as a rape victim in “The Accused.” “I think I dreamed about it a lot,” she said of the coveted award she earned for her portrayal of a young woman who was raped as onlookers cheered. Foster made her first film at age eight and was only 12 when she was nominated for a best-supporting-actress Oscar for her harrowing portrayal of a child prostitute in “Taxi Driver.” Now 26 and with a Yale degree in literature, Foster has made more than a dozen films and admitted that she used to rehearse acceptance speeches of the “I’d like

to thank” variety in the shower.

She now joins a select group of child stars, including Elizabeth Taylor, who have gone on to win Academy Awards as adults.

Her joy was obvious backstage. “A nomination is such an incredible honour and this is like winning the lottery,” the diminutive blonde actress said, clutching her statuette.

She is still young by Academy standards but told reporters: “I don’t feel like a kid in the industry. I don’t feel like I don’t deserve it. But it’s such a grown-up thing, such an establishment thing and I’ve always considered myself kind of an underdog.” Like a seasoned Hollywood veteran, Foster refused to get carried away in speculating what the Oscar could do for her career. “What it means is maybe I’ll work

next year,” she said. “Dangerous Liaisons,” an ornate drama of drawing room seductions in pre-revolutionary France, won the awards for art direction (Gerard James) and for its opulent costumes. “Bird” won the Oscar for best sound, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” for sound effects editing and visual effects, and “Beetlejuice” for makeup. Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” from “Working Girl” was named best song of the year. The academy could find only three songs to nominate this year instead of the usual five, and did not see fit to have them performed during the show. The year’s best foreign language film was Denmark’s “Pelle the Conqueror” a grim tale about an exploited farmworker and his son. The Academy of

Motion Picture Arts and Sciences dropped the traditional line “The winner is ...” in favour of “And the Oscar goes to ...” The intent was to soften the sense of competition. Hollywood’s annual tribute to itself moved at its usual plodding place

and was burdened with heavy-handed production numbers. The industry relied heavily on nostalgia, recruiting as presenters such old-time partners as James Stewart and Kim Novak and Bob Hope and Lucille Ball.

“Rain Man” had eight nominations, more than any other film of 1988 and has grossed 5U5134.6 million (5NZ221.17 million) at the box office. If there was little suspense over best actor, the race for best actress was wide open. Melanie Griffith, the corporate Cinderella of “Working Girl,” and Jodie Foster were generally considered frontrunners, but many believed this might be the year of Oscar surprises.

The other nominees were Glenn Close, as the scheming French noblewoman in “Dangerous Liaisons,” Meryl Streep, as the loving mother

accused of murdering her baby in “A Cry in the Dark,” and Sigourney Weaver as the zealous naturalist in “Glorillas in the Mist.”

Competing with “Rain Man” for best picture were “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Working Girl,” “Mississippi Burning,” a controversial look at the F. 8.1. investigation of the murders of three civil rights workers, and “The Accidentlal Tourist." The 1989 season followed a record year at the box office. More than one billion tickets were sold in 1988, with gross revenues of SUS4.3B billion (5NZ7.24 billion). The awards ceremony opened with an embarrassing production number that included a Snow White character who talked like Betty Boop and accompanied the actor, Rob Lowe, in a rendition of the rock song, “Proud Mary,” amid dancing nightclub tables.