Jodie Foster Says AI Forgot She Starred in the Original Freaky Friday

Jodie Foster is calling out artificial intelligence for forgetting a key part of her film history.

In a recent interview with Variety, the Oscar-winning actress said she was surprised to learn that popular AI tools do not seem to recognize the existence of the original Freaky Friday movie from 1976 — or her starring role in it.

“You know who forgets that I was the original Annabel in Freaky Friday? AI,” Foster said. She explained that when people ask AI to list the Freaky Friday films, it often points to the 2003 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as the “original,” while completely skipping the 1976 film.

According to Foster, AI responses suggest that the franchise began decades later. “AI has no recollection of the ’70s,” she joked.

The Freaky Friday story is based on a 1972 children’s novel by Mary Rodgers. The book follows a young girl, Annabel Andrews, who magically switches bodies with her mother and learns that adulthood is far more complicated than it appears.

The first film adaptation was released in 1976. It starred Foster as Annabel and Barbara Harris as her mother, Ellen. At the time, Foster was already gaining attention for her work in Taxi Driver and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The film was a commercial success, earning more than $25 million at the box office on a $5 million budget.

Nearly 30 years later, Disney remade the movie. The 2003 version was directed by Mark Waters and starred Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. That remake became the version most audiences associate with the franchise today.

A sequel to the 2003 film, Freakier Friday, is currently in development. Last year, director Nisha Ganatra told Entertainment Weekly that she repeatedly asked Foster to appear in a cameo role. Foster declined, and Ganatra said she never learned the reason why, despite trying “everything.”

While AI may overlook the original film, Foster’s place in Freaky Friday history remains firmly intact — even if machines need a reminder.