Jodie Foster, who started acting when she was 3 years old, and who was cited as the reason for a crazy person to try and shoot Ronald Reagan, knows a thing or two about the perils of fame. She also knows Kristen Stewart, having played her mother in 2002’s Panic Room, and as a former child actress who grew up to be a well-rounded and very smart adult, she’s always been kind of an example of how someone like Stewart can escape Twilight mania and go on to have a relatively normal life. I’ve always liked to believe that Foster kept in touch with Stewart, telling her to muddle through the Twihards and stick with acting in stuff that really mattered.

We don’t know if Foster and Stewart really do keep in touch, but Foster clearly has her former on-screen daughter’s back, having written a beautifully worded letter of support over at the Daily Beast. Speaking from her own experience as a lifelong celebrity, Foster admits “If I were a young actor today, I would quit before I started. If I had to grow up in this media culture, I don’t think I could survive it emotionally.” But she also had some pretty strong words for getting through this kind of media shitstorm, not just for Stewart but for anyone suffering the glare of the public eye:

Eventually this all passes. The public horrors of today eventually blow away. And, yes, you are changed by the awful wake of reckoning they leave behind. You trust less. You calculate your steps. You survive. Hopefully in the process you don’t lose your ability to throw your arms in the air again and spin in wild abandon. That is the ultimate F.U. and—finally—the most beautiful survival tool of all. Don’t let them take that away from you.

God knows being a celebrity takes its toll on you– yes, along with bringing you a lot of money– but Jodie Foster seems like example #1 of how to survive it with grace. I do sincerely hope she’s calling Kristen Stewart with some sage advice right now, but I’m incredibly glad she shared these words with us as well. Jodie Foster has learned the hard way how to survive Hollywood; seems obvious that everyone following in her footsteps ought to listen.