Why Jodie Foster directed an episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror and how it reminded her of her own childhood
The Hollywood actress admits she was a little behind the Black Mirror cult when she first came on board but has delivered an ‘intensely personal’ episode about a mother using sophisticated tracking tools to watch her daughter
“Hi, I’m Jodie,” says Jodie Foster, a little superfluously, when I arrive in her suite in London’s Langham Hotel. Dressed in a grey trouser suit and silver brogues, with that brown bob and those blue eyes, she is instantly recognisable.
From early roles for Martin Scorsese in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Taxi Driver to her Oscar-winning parts as a rape victim in The Accused and FBI rookie Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, she has left an indelible impression on Hollywood.
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Now 55, Foster hasn’t appeared on screen since the 2013 sci-fi Elysium, preferring to concentrate on a directorial career that began with an episode of the 1980s TV series Tales from the Darkside made when she was just 26.
Three years later, she directed her feature debut, the well-liked Little Man Tate – but like so many directors, she has more recently been aiming her sights at television, shooting episodes of Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards.
She has now directed “Arkangel”, the second episode in the new series of Black Mirror, the Emmy Award-winning sci-fi drama about the perils of technology by British writer Charlie Brooker. For those who haven’t seen the show, it is a prescient and frequently disturbing work made up of stand-alone stories. A Tales of the Unexpected for the Tinder generation, subjects including virtual reality, social media, hacking and more have all come under its watchful eye.
While Black Mirror began on Britain’s Channel 4 – the first two series were just three episodes apiece, followed by a Christmas special – the show transferred to streaming giant Netflix last year. A six-episode run followed, one that was every bit as engaging and provocative as what had come before.