The actress adopted a strategy of keeping everything about her personal life quiet. She would evade questions about her love life and kept her personal life out of the papers. This was a common strategy adopted by entertainers who were in the LGBTQ community and avoided coming out in case it adversely affected their careers.
The 1990s, a lot of tabloids speculated about her sexuality and questioned whether the Silence of the Lambs actress was a lesbian. She made no comments over these claims and led her life as she always had; privately. In 1998, she gave birth to her older son, and 3 years later, she gave birth to her second child, also a son.
It was 35 years after her interview as a 17-year-old where she was asked what kind of men she liked. In 2013, she was given an award for her contributions to the film industry. She accepted the award and revealed the truth in her speech, saying, “I hope you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big coming-out speech tonight, because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age.”
It was 2013, the industry had changed and she was tired of hiding her truth. The actress confidently said, “While I’m here being all confessional, I guess I just have just a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public.”
She revealed that while she was currently single, from 1993 to 2008 she lived her life with producer Sidney Bernard. And that she shared her 2 sons with her. She said Bernard was her best friend and thanked her for the family the two of them had made. In the crowd, two people were not surprised, her sons Kit and Charlie. While the rest of the audience had tears in their eyes, clearly moved by the actress’ honesty.
In the same year, she opened up about her current love Alexandra Hedison. Her partner Hedison was also an actress and appeared on television in the late 1990s but gave up the career since she did not feel it was for her. She later pursued photography instead.
Hedison is a celebrity in her own circle; she is heavily involved in home design circles and has also had her work showcased in many galleries. From 2000 to 2004, she dated Ellen DeGeneres.
Hedison and Foster kept their love for one another a secret. They did not tell anyone about their marriage. They tied the knot secretly in 2014 and have been together ever since.
Even though they no longer hide their marriage, they rarely appear in public together, still preferring to keep a low profile. Their last big public appearance was at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The women held hands and kissed one another in front of the cameras. The same year Foster won another Golden Globe for her performance in The Mauritanian.
