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Taxi Driver marked a sharp departure from the wholesome roles that had defined Jodie Foster’s childhood on screen. The legendary actress, who was known at the time for Disney titles like Napoleon, Samantha, and Freaky Friday, stepped into far darker territory with this 1976 Martin Scorsese film, and in doing so, she transformed her career trajectory forever.
Jodie Foster’s Iconic Role In Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese’s psychological thriller became a defining pivot in her early career. Cast as Iris, a street-hardened teenage sex worker, Foster stepped into a role that was miles away from her earlier screen image. At just 12 years old, her portrayal left a lasting impact — and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Jodie Foster on the set of Taxi Driver (1976) by Steve Schapiro. pic.twitter.com/KLprjzeDeo
— filmartbox (@filmartbox) December 1, 2017
The preparation was intense, and with the nature of the role raising obvious concerns, Foster underwent a psychological evaluation and had a welfare worker present during filming. What emerged, though, was a performance that carried a gravity far beyond her years.
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Jodie Foster’s Work With Martin Scorsese Before The Spotlight
Foster’s familiarity with Scorsese wasn’t new. They had already worked together on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1974 before Taxi Driver. So when she returned to his set, she did so with a clear understanding of his creative intensity, even though he was still early in his directorial journey. But beyond the scenes, there were concerns as Foster’s mother had already started thinking long-term, for she was aware of how fleeting child stardom could be.
The Real-Life Inspiration Behind The Character Of Iris
The film followed Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran navigating the gritty underbelly of New York City by night. As his mental state fractured, he turned his focus toward Iris, the young girl he would attempt to pull out of the life she’d been dragged into under the manipulative grip of her pimp, which was played with disturbing charisma by Harvey Keitel.
However, behind Iris was an even more unpredictable twist of fate. Screenwriter Paul Schrader found inspiration in the most unlikely of places. While wandering through New York’s nightscape in a fog of loneliness and alcohol, he ended up in the company of a girl whose background left him shaken.
“When I was in New York, I was feeling particularly blue in a bar at around three AM. I noticed a girl and ended up picking her up,” Schrader revealed in an interview with Film Comment. “I should have been forewarned when she was so easy to pick up; I’m very bad at it. The only reason I tried it that night is that I was so drunk.”
The girl, who happened to be a young, underage, and addicted s*x worker, had no idea she was about to become the seed for a character who would shape one of cinema’s most unsettling and enduring stories. The pieces began to immediately fall in place for Schrader and he immediately contacted Scorsese to tell him the news.
He explained, “I sent Marty a note saying: ‘Iris is in my room. We’re having breakfast at nine. Will you please join us?’ So we came down, Marty came down, and a lot of the character of Iris was rewritten from this girl who had a concentration span of about twenty seconds. Her name was Garth.”
At the end, Taxi Driver didn’t just mark a leap in Foster’s filmography but signaled to Hollywood that she wasn’t just a talented child star, but an actor capable of taking on bold and complicated roles. The role of Iris may have grown out of a chance encounter and a hazy night, but on screen, it became something unforgettable.
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