Los Angeles, Jan 8 : Hollywood actress Jodie Foster first found fame as a child star, but the star insists she's never chased the spotlight.

"I had to do it my way. You like me as someone who has my dignity. You canâ??t strip it away from me and then have me remain the me that I am,â?? Foster told variety.com.

The 63-year-old actress was widely criticised for years for not being more open about her sexuality. However, the veteran film star has defended her approach to stardom, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She said: "Thank God there were the wonderful pioneers that were out there changing the world. Thatâ??s true of the Civil Rights Movement, and yet you have Denzel Washington, who just made movies. Are we mad at him? Does everyone have to?"

Despite this, Foster praised Kristen Stewart, her former co-star, for having the bravery to speak out on social issues.

The actress said: "She is brave. She had parents that were brave. And she was given the keys to bravery. I didnâ??t know that I would ever have them. I thought my role was to make other people happy, and to eat s***. I was the right person to put in rubber boots at 20 degrees below zero, because I was never going to complain."

She opened up about her sexuality for the first time in 2013, when she accepted the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes.

The movie star said during her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes: "I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago, back in the stone age. In those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family, coworkers and then gradually, proudly, to everyone who knew her."

/IANS