JODIE FOSTER

The newly laid-back legend has nothing left to prove

-  SARA AUSTIN

JODIE FOSTER WON'T READ ANYTHING YOU POST about this article. "I don't really care about other people's opinions," says the actress-director-producer, who has more than 100 Hollywood credits to her name and zero social media presence. "Why do you care about what some guy in his pajamas thinks about what you should do with your life?"

If there is a theme to Foster's current era, it's this: After more than 50 years in the spotlight, she is living like no one is watching. Meeting up at The Spaniard near her place in New York City's West Village-her hair still wet from a shower-Foster chats warmly about her home life with wife Alexandra Hedison, her two sons, and her ladies-only fantasy football league smack chat. When we finish, she'll run back to tip the waitstaff a little extra and walk me to the subway.

This sense of ease feels new for a star who admits she had a "control mechanism [that] was built at a very young age." She earned her first Oscar nomination at 14 for Taxi Driver and was named Best Actress twice by age 30. Her awards are so many they have their own Wikipedia page.