Jodie Foster has claimed that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro were “afraid” of her when she was 12.
The 61-year-old actress – who began her career when she was just three – recalled how the legendary director and his frequent collaborator were intimidated by her and didn't know “what to do” with her when they worked on “Taxi Driver” together.
She told W magazine: “I first worked with Martin Scorsese when I was about 10, on 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.'
“At 12, I had done a lot more films than De Niro or Scorsese. They were really afraid of me: 'What do we do with this 12-year-old?'
“I was in shorts and corkies, or whatever those platform shoes were called.”
The 'True Detective' actress struggled with her job in her late teens and early 20s, but she still continued working because her mother warned her her career would be “over ” when she was 40.
She said: “The biggest transition was going from being a kid to college and then becoming an adult actor.
“The work I did between the ages of 16 and 22 is the most delicate place.
“But my mom kept telling me, 'When you're 40, you'll never work again, so you should work as much as you can now because when you're 40, you'll be done.' ' “
Even though middle age has been a “rough” time in her career, Jodie couldn't be happier with the way things are going for her currently.
She explained: “Now I've never been busier. The fifties are difficult, especially for an actress. People don't know what to do with you, and you don't know what to do with yourself.
“You are completely confused about your relevance in the world. You just keep trying to compete with your past and who you were.
“And suddenly, in your 60s, the perfect thing happens: at 60, you suddenly realize that you don't care about all the things that cared about you in your 50s.
“You can support other people because you know it's not your time. There's something about being the wise guy in the room that's so much more fun.”