Jodie Foster has admitted she found her 50s ‘difficult’ and ‘struggled to accept her early success’ as she reflected on turning 60 in a new interview.

The actress, 61, won her first BAFTA and was nominated for her first Oscar aged just 13-years-old for her role in Taxi Driver.

Reflecting on her career, she recalled how her critical and commercial success earned from starring in the 1976 thriller ‘felt like a fluke.’

Speaking on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Jodie explained: ‘I started when I was three. I was on a show when I was six, and I got nominated for an Oscar when I was twelve, and I think that I always felt like it was a fluke.

‘Like I was really lucky in that I was just in the right place at the right time, and I always felt like I should feel bad that I had all these good things… I struggle with that a lot.’

Jodie Foster, 61, has admitted that she found her 50s ‘difficult’ and ‘struggled to accept her early success’ as she reflected on turning 60 in a new interview (pictured on Sunday)

The actress, won her first BAFTA and was nominated for first Oscar when she was aged just 13-years-old for her role in Taxi Driver (pictured in the film)

She added: ‘Especially now because, we think, ‘Oh, unless you’re having a lot of pain and anxiety, you must not be working hard.’ And you associate pain and anxiety with hard work.’

Taxi Driver generated controversy for the casting of the then-12-year-old Jodie in the role of a child prostitute.

The film told the story of Bickle (Robert De Niro) who took a job as a cabbie and dreamed of violently cleaning up the streets of New York.

It is widely seen as one of the great American films. It is ranked as the 31st best film ever made – joint with the Godfather Part II – by the British Film Institute and the 47th best by the American Film Institute.

Most recently she starred as Detective Liz Danvers in True Detective, the final episode of which was broadcast last week. 

Jodie added: ‘On True Detective I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy and it was really easy, it was an easy experience and there was a part of me that was like, “oh, it’s easy, I must not be working hard.”‘

‘The fifties were really hard for me and I think for a lot of women because you’re like, “Wait, I can’t do what I used to do. I’m not gonna look the same on that cover,” or “I can’t compete with my younger self and if I try to, I just keep failing.”

‘But then the world is confusing, and you’re confused about what it is to be 50 and all the images you see are confusing. I was also incredibly happy in my personal life but I just kept saying, ‘I was meant to do something meaningful and I can’t figure out what it is.’ Then 60 happened.”

Reflecting on her career, she recalled how her critical and commercial success earned from starring in the 1976 thriller ‘felt like a fluke’ (pictured alongside Robert De Niro in the film)

Speaking on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Jodie explained: ‘I started when I was three. I was on a show when I was six, and I got nominated for an Oscar when I was twelve’

Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in ‘True Detective: Night Country’

The actress explained: ‘There’s something about turning 60 that’s been so wonderful, about letting go of some of the baggage of trying to compete with your younger self. There was a lot of pressure to compete with my younger self.

‘Im so glad that I can be a character actor and that I can bring whatever wisdom and experience that I have to the process to help other people.

‘Usually it’s just about telling them to relax and that they don’t have to worry and that they’re not in control of it anyway.’