Jodie Foster recalls scary incident when lion picked her up on 'Napoleon and Samantha' sets
Feb 18, 2024
Los Angeles [US], February 18 : American actor Jodie Foster recalled an incident when a lion on a movie set picked her with its mouth.
People reported that during a recent appearance on 'The Graham Norton Show,' Foster said that she had a terrible encounter while filming the 1972 picture 'Napoleon and Samantha.'
Foster was 9 years old when she appeared in the picture, with a young Michael Douglas and Johnny Whitaker.
She and Whitaker portrayed children who travel with their pet lion rather than say goodbye to it.
She recalled seeing three lions on set, the main lion, a stunt lion, and a stand-in lion, the latter of which was the one she had the incident.
"We finished a 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, shook me in his mouth and turned me around," Foster said.
The 'True Detective: Night Country' star continued, "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 Silence of the Lambs star laughed as she recounted the incident, but other guests on stage, including Colman, comic Wanda Sykes, and Scottish host Lorraine Kelly, were taken aback, People reported.
"I'm watching everybody leave going, 'What's happening,' " Foster said, adding that she remembers thinking it was an earthquake because she was shaking.
"The trainer said, 'Drop it' and because the lion was so well-trained, he opened his mouth and dropped me down and I went running," she said.
However, the lion came after Foster, she said, observing that he "put one paw on me and then just waited like 'I got her,'" she recalled, laughing.