Iconic actress Jodie Foster recounted a harrowing experience from her childhood on “The Graham Norton Show,” which aired Saturday.
The 61-year-old star delved into a moment during the filming of “Napolean and Samantha,” a project from when she was nine. The film narrates the perilous journey of two young children and their pet lion up a mountain.
Foster found herself in a life-threatening situation not scripted in the storyline. She revealed the production utilized three lions: the main actor, a stunt double and a stand-in. It was with this stand-in lion Foster faced an unexpected and terrifying ordeal.
“I was working with the stand-in lion and I guess he had a little piano wire that was pulling him,” the actress said on “The Graham Norton Show.” “We finished the take and I was going up the hill and all I remember is I remember seeing his mane come around and then he picked me up sideways, and shook me in his mouth and turned me around.”
What followed was a scene of utter chaos.
“And every single person on the crew was running in the opposite direction and I’m, like, sideways, watching everybody — and they took their equipment, too,” the “True Detective” star recounted.
“And I’m watching everybody leave, going, like, ‘What’s happening?’ I remember feeling, like, ‘Oh it’s an earthquake!’ because I was getting shaken. The trainer said, ‘Drop it,’ and, because the lion was so well-trained, he opened his mouth and dropped me down.” (RELATED: ‘Really Annoying’: Hollywood Legend Teases Gen Z Over Their Work Ethic)
The ordeal didn’t end with her release; the lion pursued Foster and pinned her down with a paw. “And then he came after me and then just put one paw on me and then just waited, like, ‘I got her,'” the actress continued.