!["Taxi Driver" 40th Anniversary Celebration - 2016 Tribeca Film Festival Actress, director, and producer, Jodie Foster attends 'Taxi Driver' 40th Anniversary Celebration during 2016 Tribeca Film Festival at The Beacon Theatre on April 21, 2016 in New York City.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/jodie-foster-acting-director.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Hollywood star Jodie Foster, director of the upcoming hit Money Monster, recently spoke with TIME about two big issues facing women in her industry: The lack of roles for women who are past their 40s, and the low ratio of women to men in director positions.
“Diversity takes a hit when the studios are so averse to risk, and somehow women and minorities are considered risks,” she said. “People want to change, they just don’t know how. You change the culture from within, and you have to challenge people to be interested in different stories.”
In the upcoming years, though, Foster says, “It’ll be fun to start seeing people have a more complex dialogue about diversity in Hollywood.”
Foster was mostly optimistic about the future of the industry and of her own career: “I’m excited about having a different kind of career as an actor now,” she said. “I’m excited about being 60 or 70 and playing interesting parts where I’m not fighting the expectation of carrying the movie or looking glamorous. I think it’ll be nice to really do the work.”
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