Jodie Foster Talks Depression with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

Jodie Foster talks about depression with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) about her thoughts on the film, "The Beaver", and the way it makes the audience see depression. Foster is has never been afraid to take on dramatic roles that showcase the power of the mind. Her most recent role on the big screen is as the wife of Mel Gibson's character, Walter Black, in the movie "The Beaver" which takes a hard look at mental illness and depression.

One comment that stood out in the interview was when the actress was asked if she did any special research for the project and how she prepared to play the role of Meredith Black, wife of Walter Black, a man suffering from depression and only able to communicate by using a puppet. Her response, "I read a lot, obviously. Depression is a part of all of our lives. Everyone has experience with it either in their own families or with friends. I had a lot of personal connection to this topic."

She may be a celebrity, but Foster is also human. Her honest answer to NAMI is very telling since it means that she has witnessed first hand what depression can do to a person. Not just because she played a role in a movie, but because she has had someone close to her affected by this type of mental illness.

Foster goes on in the interview to explain why she takes on roles like the one of Meredith Black in "The Beaver", "We know that depression is a serious thing; it is not just about sadness, and there is nothing romantic about it. In part, this is why I do dramas. To face tragedy and sadness is more effective when I don't run from it."

Some of her other roles have had her dealing with mental challenges other than depression. In the movie "Nell," Foster played a young "wild child" who lived in the forest and was essentially cut off from the world. In "Silence of the Lambs," she played the role of Clarice Starling, an young FBI agent, who has her mind toyed with and manipulated by the serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. In the movie "Contact," she has to wrap her mind around finding conclusive proof of aliens after they send her blueprints for a mysterious machine to be built.

Fosters most poignant words came at the end of the interview, "We can't give up on one another. We are not alone in this experience and in this life."