Jodie Foster is not mincing her words when it comes to how she really feels about Gen Z.
The actress spoke to The Guardian last week about what her life is like behind the scenes, as a mother.
Foster has two sons, Kit and Charles, who are in their 20s, whom she had with her ex-partner, film producer Cydney Bernard.
The actress and Bernard split up in 2008 and for the last 10 years, she has been married to photographer Alexandra Hedison.
Foster admits that one of the problems her children encountered early on was how to be male.
“My two don’t like sports,” she told The Guardian.
“They like to watch movies and sit at home, and they’re really into their female friends,” she continued.
Foster went on to say that her two sons are feminists, likely because of their upbringing surrounded by women.
“They’re super feminist. And there was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women – three women – it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy,” she explained.
“And he watched television and came to the conclusion, oh, I just need to be an a**hole. I understand,” she said of the portrayal of men on TV.
“I need to be shi**y to women, and act like I’m a f***er.”
“And I was like, no! That’s not what it is to be a man,” Jodie continued. “That’s what our culture has been selling you for all this time.”
Foster says that phase in her son’s life went on for about six months.
As for whether or not she let that phase in his life play out…she didn’t have a straight answer.
“Yes, and no. I was like, you won’t be talking to me like that.” Foster said as she burst into laughter.
But, despite raising two Gen Z sons, Foster also had some choice words about the generation during her interview.
Jodie’s problem…
The actress talked about a very common gripe many people in her generation have with Gen Z: their supposed unwillingness to work.
“They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace,” she said of people born between 1997 and 2012.
She went on to talk about her experience working with Gen Z, insisting they only work when they feel like it.
“They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am,'” Foster said.
“Or, like, in emails, I’ll tell them this is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling? And they’re like, ‘Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?’” she continued.
Just last month, Foster spoke with Past Lives star Greta Lee for Interview magazine, where she opened up about her own struggles with age.
Jodie spoke about struggling in her 50s and how she’s feeling now at 61.
“I think it’s an age thing, because I felt these huge shifts the day I turned 30 and the day I turned 60,” she admitted.
Now, at 61, she’s feeling even better than she did throughout the last decade.
“And 60 was the best shift of all, because I was struggling in my 50s,” she revealed.
After becoming famous as a child star, Foster recalled wondering whether she would “do anything meaningful again” in her 50s.
She also described “that awkward phase where everybody who’s in their late 40s or 50s is very busy getting all plumped and shooting s*** into their face.”
“I didn’t want that life,” she said, “but I also knew that I couldn’t compete with my old self. So my 50s were tough.”
But, the actress went on to say that “something happened when I turned 60.”
“I was like, ‘I figured it out. This is good,'” Foster said. “There was something about going back to the work with a different attitude, I think.”
“…About really enjoying supporting other people and saying to myself, ‘This is not my time. I had my time,” she continued.
Now, she wants to pass it to the next generation
Foster concluded, “This is their time, and I get to participate in it by giving them whatever wisdom I have.'”