Inside Jodie Foster's Super-Private Love Life
Jodie Foster and wife Alexandra Hedison.
Jodie Foster has been famous since she was a toddler, but she’s managed to keep her personal life very private in the decades she’s been a star. While Foster was out to her friends and family for years, she didn’t publicly address her sexuality until 2013, when she came out in a speech at the Golden Globes while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.
“While I'm here being all confessional, I guess I have a sudden urge to say something that I've never really been able to air in public,” she told the audience. “But I'm just going to put it out there, right? Loud and proud, right? So I'm going to need your support on this. I am single. Yes, I am, I am single. No, I'm kidding—but I mean, I'm not really kidding, but I'm kind of kidding. … Seriously, I hope you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight, because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and coworkers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.”
Foster went on to explain that she’d kept her relationships so close to the vest because she’s been famous for the vast majority of her life. “If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you'd had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else.” she said. “Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was.”
In 2014, Foster married her wife, Alexandra Hedison, but true to form, she’s offered very few public updates about their romance. In a January 2024 interview with The Guardian, Foster offered only that she and Hedison like to do their work “independently,” though they occasionally collaborate (as on Hedison’s short film Alok, which Foster executive produced).
Hedison, meanwhile, has occasionally gushed about Foster on social media, praising her wife in February 2021 ahead of the Golden Globes, where she was nominated (and later won) for her work in The Mauritanian. “Every day I'm a proud wife but today you get a special shout out in the remote land of IG,” Hedison wrote via Instagram. “I'll have to show you my phone for you to see this but still...I'm shouting from the rooftops. Congratulations to you, @taharrahimofficiel & everyone involved in this important film.”
Keep reading for a complete guide to Jodie Foster’s wife and children.
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Who is Jodie Foster married to?
Jodie Foster is married to Alexandra Hedison, a former actress who is now a photographer. During her acting days, she appeared in episodes of Melrose Place, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Nash Bridges and The L Word. She has shown her photography in Los Angeles, London, France and Portugal.
When did Jodie Foster and Alexandra Hedison get married?
Jodie Foster and Alexandra Hedison tied the knot in April 2014 after about a year of dating. Their wedding was top-secret, and they never announced their engagement prior to the ceremony. They have kept their relationship out of the spotlight since then and rarely appear together in public.
How old is Jodie Foster’s wife?
Alexandra Hedison was born on July 10, 1969, making her 54 years old. She is six years younger than Jodie Foster, who was born Nov. 19, 1962.
How long have Jodie Foster and her wife been together?
Jodie Foster and Alexandra Hedison have been together for just over 10 years. They’ve kept quiet about when their relationship began, but Foster famously said she was “single” when she publicly came out at the Golden Globes in January 2013. Foster and Hedison wed just over one year later.
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How many kids does Jodie Foster have?
Jodie Foster has two sons: Charles, born in 1998, and Kit, born in 2001.
Who does Jodie Foster share her kids with?
Jodie Foster welcomed her sons, Charles and Kit, with ex-partner Cydney Bernard, whom she dated from 1993 to 2008. The former couple met on the set of the 1993 film Sommersby, in which Foster starred. (Bernard worked as a production coordinator on the film, which also starred Richard Gere, Bill Pullman and James Earl Jones.)
Foster also kept her relationship with Bernard out of the spotlight, but the duo have remained amicable post-split as they coparent their sons.
Who are Jodie Foster’s children?
Charles Bernard Foster
Jodie Foster became a mom in 1998 when she welcomed son Charles, whom she shares with ex Cydney Bernard. Charles has largely stayed out of the public eye.
Kit Bernard Foster
Foster and Bernard’s second child, son Kit, arrived in 2001. Like his older brother, Kit has stayed out of the spotlight, but his mom occasionally shares updates on her kids’ lives. In a January 2024 interview with The Guardian, Foster joked that her sons occasionally struggled with their masculinity while being raised by women, but she proudly raised them to be feminists.
“My two don’t like sports. They like to watch movies and sit at home, and they’re really into their female friends. They’re super feminist,” she explained. “And there was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women—three women—it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy. And he watched television and came to the conclusion, ‘Oh, I just need to be an asshole. I understand! I need to be shitty to women, and act like I’m a fucker.’ And I was like, ‘No! That’s not what it is to be a man! That’s what our culture has been selling you for all this time.’”
How old are Jodie Foster’s kids?
Jodie Foster’s eldest son, Charles, celebrated his 25th birthday on July 20, 2023. Her younger son, Kit, will turn 23 on Sept. 29, 2024.
