FIRST CLASS JODIE FOSTER ON PARENTING, MOVIE PENGUINS AND 'FLIGHTPLAN'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

Given that Jodie Foster has been making movies steadily since she was 7 years old - it's no wonder Dakota Fanning calls Foster her ``role model'' - you can't really begrudge her the three years she took off between ``Panic Room'' and her latest, ``Flightplan,'' which opens today.

Until you see her on screen. Watching her tear through the psychological thriller ``Flightplan,'' playing a mother questioning authority - and her own sanity - after her daughter turns up missing on a trans-Atlantic flight, is to realize just how much Foster has been missed from the cinematic landscape. No other screen actress marshals the fierce intelligence that Foster brings to a role.

``She allows you to access her world in a way that is palpable, and then when the movie shifts gears, she has this tremendous intensity and power that is utterly convincing,'' says ``Flightplan'' producer Brian Grazer, who, with Foster in mind, suggested changing the film's lead character from a father to a mother. (He had already done the male ``give-me-back-my-son! thing'' with ``Ransom.'')

Adds Erika Christensen, another young actress who counts Foster as an inspiration: ``The remarkable thing is that she's so laid-back in person. And then - wham! - she turns into this ball of energy.''

Foster, 42, was in a mellow mood recently when we caught up with her - until, that is, she related the story of a recent moviegoing experience with sons Charles, 7, and Kit, a week shy of 4. Then ... well ... read on ...

Q: I guess this movie isn't going to be the in-flight feature ...

A: Not unless someone with a really dark sense of humor starts an airline.

Q: After taking three years between movies, it's interesting that ``Flightplan,'' like ``Panic Room,'' has you playing a mother fighting for her child under some pretty dire circumstances.

A: I love the primal emotions that these situations bring out. What do you do? Who are you when you're tested?

Q: Are you a worrier as a parent?

A: I err on the side of worry. When I was a kid, people didn't worry as much. There were four of us in my family, and when we'd go out, my mom would say, ``See that fountain. That's lost and found. When you get lost, that's where I'll see you.'' I always remember hearing my name being called over some loudspeaker or another, ``Will Jodie please come to the lost and found?''

Q: Would you do that with your own kids?

A: No. I wouldn't let them out of my sight. But I don't live with this gigantic fear. And making a movie like this doesn't make me more fearful. It's not even that connection. It's more the connection that I can't keep them safe.

Q: The powerlessness that every parent feels not being able to keep their kids from pain.

A: Yes. I've had accidents and broken bones, but nothing prepared me for my son having his tonsils out. (Laughs) Just the whole experience of the guy putting the mask over his face. ``We're gonna play spaceman now. Can you count backward from 10?'' ``Yeah, spaceman! OK!''

And they put the mask over his mouth - ``10, 9, 8'' - and he's starting to look at me and he's suddenly realizing that we've all betrayed him, and you can see it in his eyes where he's starting to panic, but he's still counting because he's supposed to play the game. Then his eyes roll back into his head. I've just never been through anything like that in my life. Really.

(Stuff) happens to me all the time. And I either don't allow myself to feel it or don't acknowledge it, but my son having a cast put on when he was little - it's plaster, it's warm like Silly Putty, how bad is that? - but him screaming and the fear in his eyes. The only thing he knew to say to the doctor was ``bye bye, bye bye.''

Q: Like if he said it enough, the doctor would go away.

A: It's just horrible. And that's what I really relate to in making this movie. It's not the obvious thing, like your child being abducted. It's something you carry with you all the time.

Q: Mothers especially.

A: That lack of not being able to differentiate between your child and you, I think, is a peculiarly, specially female problem. Men blame outward. Women blame themselves. And believe me, we know it's not a healthy thing.

Q: A few random questions. What's the best breakfast you've ever had?

A: My first son, I was in labor for 36 hours. And the first thing I said, right after he was born, was, ``Oh my God! I'm starving!'' I was at Cedars-Sinai. It was pancakes and that nasty little syrup that comes in the container. And it was the best breakfast in my life.

Q: Talk about a primal moment.

A: And you don't get those moments often in life. Not positive ones, anyway. Guys who go to war, they're in a trench and a buddy's arm is blown off, and they have to apply the tourniquet. Or a car accident. But so few that are positive. So I'm all for experiencing the whole thing and not being asleep.

Q: What's the most underrated body part?

A: I'd say hands and ears. Hands are the first place I look on people. They're expressive. They're the part of your body that can move the most.

Q: Where do you take people when they come to visit you?

A: I'd take them hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains. Or the beach. The beach in the winter, when there's no one there and you can take the dogs. The skies are clear. It's amazing. Top it off with an ice cream afterward.

Q: Whose talent would you trade for?

A: A musician. Probably a wind instrument, a trumpet player or sax player or flute.

Q: Jazz or classical?

A: Jazz. Miles Davis would be nice.

Q: What do you dislike the most?

A: Ah, well, I have a little child-protection thing. People who are mean to kids. I can't take that. And I'm not an intervener in life, but here I find myself intervening. Like directors who are mean to kids or don't take them into consideration. Or adults being angry with kids in general. It seems I'm running into these people all the time.

Q: What about someone going off on your kids?

A: I went to see ``March of the Penguins'' on a Sunday, a matinee. Again: Sunday, matinee, G-rated movie. One son's older, so he was quiet all the time. But my little one says things like, ``Is that the baby? Is he carrying the egg?'' And I'm trying to keep him quiet, but he's not screaming or anything. He's just asking questions. And kids don't know how to talk quietly really.

And this woman in front of me is just beserk. She started with the shushing from the get-go. ``Fine. You can shush forever.'' And then she starts yelling at me. Finally, I just turn into the most perfect police officer where I was whispering, ``You know, you're really disturbing everybody, and I think it would be a good idea if you moved if you're not happy.''

It almost came to blows. I'm pretty sure I did say something offensive at some point, something like, ``Well, you're awfully young to be that bitter.''

Q: And how did she take that?

A: She really lost her mind. But I was insulted. I understand. I go to a movie, I don't want to be disturbed. But don't go to a noon Sunday matinee of a family movie. I mean, what do you expect?

I was vibrating all day, I was so angry. I couldn't get rid of it. It was like a loop. It just kept going. And it ruined my entire day. My son, he takes things to heart. He learns from it. My other son would have tried to irritate her more. But now, every mention of ``March of the Penguins,'' it's like a bad flashback. I don't see cute birds. I see an insane person.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) CHARTING HER COURSE

After some time off with her two young sons, Jodie Foster is ready for new challenges

(2) no caption (Jodie Foster)

(3) Jodie Foster is newly widowed Kyle Pratt, with Marlene Lawston as daughter Julia in ``Flightplan.''

David Sprague/Staff Photographer