jodie foster comes out

As an atheist, almost casually, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Surprising that she’d admit it, but, well, I really have to give her some credit for that, at least.

Are you religious?
No, I’m an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don’t believe in God. We celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids. They love it, and when they say, ”Are we Jewish?” or ”Are we Catholic?” I say, ”Well, I’m not, but you can choose when you’re 18. But isn’t this fun that we do seders and the Advent calendar?”

But she remains as tight-lipped and grim as ever when asked about her sexual orientation, and the magazine, not surprisingly, gives her a pass.

Over the next two hours, there’s only one subject that she firmly swats away. A recent Out magazine cover featured two models holding up pictures of her and Anderson Cooper’s faces in front of their own, under the headline ”The Glass Closet: Why the Stars Won’t Come Out and Play.” When asked if she has any response, Foster says, ”Was that the one with the Popsicle sticks?” Her thin lips tighten into a calm half smile of reproach: ”No, I have no response.”

So be it. Too many actors today flaunt their personal lives to make up for the lack of a real professional one. And then there’s Jodie Foster … a smart, sensitive actress audiences love to root for.

In her mind, then, is it worse to be known as gay than to be known as an atheist in the US? I thought that polls typically suggest the opposite, though as someone who’s both I already know that either one means I’ll never get to be President.