Jodie Foster Recalls ‘Scariest’ Moment Being Mauled by a Lion on Disney Set

Jodie Foster is reflecting on one of the most terrifying experiences of her career — a childhood encounter with a lion while filming a Disney movie.

A Childhood Incident on Set

During a recent interview with W Magazine, the 63-year-old actress revealed that she was mauled by a lion while working on the 1972 film Napoleon and Samantha. Foster was just nine years old at the time.

“I was mauled by a lion when I was 8.5, 9 years old,” she said. “The lion picked me up, shook me around, moved me horizontally and then dropped me.”

The incident left Foster with permanent scars. “I had two perfect punctures on one side and then two perfect punctures on the other side on my hip,” she explained.

Crew Panic and Trainer’s Intervention

Foster recalled that the attack happened after she had completed a shot, so none of it was captured on film. She remembered seeing the lion’s mane as it lunged toward her, and then the crew scattering in fear.

“I saw the whole camera crew run,” she said. Fortunately, the lion trainer quickly intervened. “I guess the trainer said, ‘Drop it,’ and the lion dropped me out of his mouth.”

Foster described the moment as “probably the scariest thing that has ever happened to me when I was making a movie.”

Returning to Work

Despite the frightening ordeal, Foster returned to filming with the same lion that had attacked her. The live-action Disney adventure followed her character Samantha and her friend Napoleon, played by Johnny Whitaker, as they fled into the wilderness with a tame lion.

Permanent Reminder

Though Foster joked that her scars have shifted over time, the incident remains etched in her memory. “Who even knows where they are anymore?” she laughed. The story underscores the dangers of working with live animals on film sets, especially for child actors. Yet Foster’s resilience and professionalism at such a young age foreshadowed the acclaimed career she would go on to build, starring in classics like The Silence of the Lambs and Contact.