Jodie Foster’s Actual Reason for Hiding That She’s Gay from….
To put it mildly, it is scary to walk into a room with Jodie Foster and Annette Bening, especially when you have to awkwardly clamber up onto a very tall and fragile folding chair in front of them. On the other hand, both movie stars grinned broadly during the press conference for Nyad, the Netflix biopic that follows the 64-year-old lesbian icon Diana Nyad’s incredible swim from Cuba to Key West. Bening portrays the prickly, broken protagonist so well, and Foster brings to life Bonnie Stoll, Nyad’s worn-out ex-lover and current coach.
This week, Bening and Foster were nominated for Golden Globes for their roles; both are anticipated to win the same award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which bestows the Oscars.
Let us go back to that room at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons. Bening and Foster appeared amicable and open from the start, but when the publicist revealed that a reporter from The Advocate would be interviewing them, they both brightened up. While Nyad explores a number of issues, one that particularly jumped out was the refusal to accept age- or gender-based constraints. After over 40 years in Hollywood, did Bening question her abilities after accepting such a physically and emotionally taxing role?
