Foster is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in last year’s ‘Nyad’ at the 2024 Oscars.


Kevin Mazur/Getty Jodie Foster attends the 96th annual Academy Awards.© Provided by People

Jodie Foster’s first appearance at the Academy Awards in 1977 is one she will never forget.

On the red carpet for Sunday’s 96th annual Academy Awards, Foster, 61, spoke with ABC’s The Oscars Red Carpet Show host Vanessa Hudgens about what she remembered from that first night attending Hollywood’s biggest awards ceremony when she was just 14.

“I was so nervous,” the two-time Oscar winner said.  “First of all, I asked the cutest boy in my class to come with me. Ty Katz, and he came in a little tuxedo, and I broke out in hives when they said my name.”

She continued, “All they had to say was “Jo—“ and then suddenly my entire face, my body, everything started itching and I was red.”

That night, Foster received her first nomination for her role in the 1976 film Taxi Driver, starring Robert DeNiro and directed by Martin Scorcese.  She was one of the youngest-ever Oscar nominees. She later went on to win for her roles in 1988’s The Accused and 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Jodie Foster attends the 96th annual Academy Awards© Provided by People

Foster is now nominated for her role as swim coach Bonnie Stoll in last year’s Nyad at the 2024 Oscars, making it 47 years since her Oscar nomination for Taxi Driver. The decades separating the two nominations make the longest time between an actor’s first nomination at the awards ceremony and their most recent.

The actress was also accompanied by her wife Alexandra Hedison at Sunday night’s ceremony. When catching up with ABC’s On the Red Carpet preshow, Foster said she’s the “happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Maybe just the most content I’ve ever been,” she said.“I think it’s more like a bonus thing. It just feels more fun.”

Foster and Hedison, 54, tied the knot back in 2014. Hedison is a photographer, actress and filmmaker who made a rare red carpet appearance with her love at Sunday night’s Academy Awards.