It’s not often that we get to watch Jodie Foster in a French-speaking lead role, which makes her latest Cannes film premiere, A Private Life, all the more intriguing.

She has the chops: Foster studied at Lycée Français in Los Angeles, becoming fluent in French. In Rebecca Zlotowski’s latest directorial, she plays renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner who learns about the death of one of her patients, and becomes deeply troubled. Convinced that it was murder, she decides to investigate.

The pic reps Foster’s first French-language role in two decades after Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s wartime romance A Very Long Engagement in 2005 before which she had a handful of smaller roles in French pics. The 2x Oscar winner has had other titles here at Cannes before including Money Monster (2016), Bugsy Malone (1976), Taxi Driver (1976) and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975).

“This is something I wanted to do for a long time,” said Foster about a lead role in French-speaking pic. “This is the first time that I’ve had as much dialogue in a French movie. It was a huge challenge for me. The great thing, when I act in French, I’m totally different person: My confidence isn’t as high and my voice is higher. It creates a new character for me.”

Foster confessed, “Why didn’t I make a film in French? I was afraid. A number of directors offered me projects, but I was too scared to act in French. I thought someone who is familiar with French should do so.”

Foster was asked if she brings a director’s mind to her acting. “Actors think in the moment, while directors have the big picture in their head,” said the multihyphenate whose directed title The Beaver with Mel Gibson played Cannes in 2011. The Silence of the Lambs Oscar winning actress said she prepares as an actor when it comes to the role in front of her. “I never went to conservatory school,” she said, and essentially goes with her gut.

Zlotowski movie is playing out of competition and being released by Sony Pictures Classics in North America and Latin America. The pic received a ten-minute standing ovation at its Cannes premiere last night.

In 2021, Foster received an honorary Golden Palm here at Cannes.