“There was so much trauma involved in it” — Jodie Foster reveals why she has not returned to theater since her college days

Silence of The Lambs star Jodie Foster opened up about not wanting to return to theater since she was 18. In the Friday, June 21 issue of The Interview magazine, Foster recalled the harrowing incident that led to the death of her career in theater to The Bikeriders actress Jodie Comer. When asked if she would like to do theater, Foster told Comer:

"I’m finally able to admit that the one bit of theater I did when I was in college, there was so much trauma involved in it—well, just quickly, the play happened in two weekends, and I did the first weekend, and in between the first weekend and the second weekend, John Hinckley shot the president."

Foster's stalker John Hinckley Jr. shot then-American President Ronald Reagan in 1981 when the actress was still in college in an attempt to impress the actress, to whom had been writing letters.

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Jodie Foster recalled the "trauma" that made her quit theater

Jodie Foster opened up about a traumatic part of her life in the latest issue of The Interview magazine. As mentioned earlier, while talking to Jodie Comer, the actress brought up the unfortunate incident with her stalker John Hinckley Jr. Hinckley Jr. was obsessed with Jodie Foster's 1976 film Taxi Driver and started adopting the mannerisms of Robert De Niro's lead character Travis Bickle.

Hinckley Jr.'s obsession with Foster only grew as he moved to New Haven, Connecticut to stalk the actress when she attended Yale University from 1981 to the next year. John repeatedly called the actress, left her messages, and even wrote her poems and letters.

Finally, the frustrated stalker shot newly elected president Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, outside the Hilton Hotel in order to impress Foster and get her attention. Thankfully, the president recovered and helmed the country for two terms. Foster, as mentioned above was doing a play at the time. The actress told Jodie Comer:

"It was a long time ago. You probably don’t even know, but he shot him in order to impress me, and he had written letters to me, so it was a big moment in my life."

Foster added:

"The world fell apart, there were Secret Service people everywhere, I had bodyguards, and I had to be taken to a safe house, and I was in the middle of these two weekends of this play, and I had the dumb idea of 'the show must go on.' So I was like, 'I have to do that second weekend.'"

Jodie Foster recalled just turning 18, seeing people and cameras everywhere and even noticing John Hinckley Jr. sitting in the front row for the second night. She learned the next day that he was on the run and that he had a gun and even brought it to her performance. She further recalled:

"I was in a class, and the bodyguard guy came and threw me onto the ground while I was in the class, which was really embarrassing, because there were only 10 people there."

Jodie Foster revealed that this was a traumatic moment for her and admitted that the incident probably had something to do with her not wanting to ever do a play again. Even though she talked herself into loving theater and going to theater, she just couldn't commit to doing theater again. When The Bikeriders actress asked Foster if she could anyway sway her, the actress replied:

"I’ll be the first 80-year-old person to go onstage with my walker, perhaps."

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In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, John Hinckley Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity. After spending three decades under institutional psychiatric care, Hinckley Jr. currently runs a YouTube channel for his music.