Role model

I love how smart and creative Jodie Foster is. Down-to-earth. Literary. In her art. In her life.

Saw her on The Actor's Studio tonight and enjoyed watching it immensely. She manages to immerse herself in her craft and yet maintain a private life. She's fluent in French. She revealed herself a bit -- the insecurity she felt at having no formal acting lessons, what it was like doing a play at Yale while the John Hinckley debacle was happening.

Foster was featured in the September issue of O magazine, the section called "Reading Room." Each month they ask a celebrity about her favorite books. Foster's list: The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Cathedral by Raymond Carver, The Complete Greek Tragedies: Euripides, Naked by David Sedaris, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Marie Rilke.

I particularly like what Foster writes about her Rilke selection:

This is a collection of letters that Rilke wrote to a poet who'd asked for his advice. It's clear that Rilke wants to encourage the younger man, yet he can't help betraying his own disillusionment with the world and his feelings of insignificance. I love how humble Rilke is -- how beaten down by the creative process yet hopeful. I've given this book to a few directors and wrapped each copy in a silk scarf. When I feel like a failure or have doubts about my work, this is the sacred book I take off the shelf and unwrap, very delicately.

Good stuff.