Envision memorable women in contemporary films and you often see the face of Jodie Foster. From the 13-year-old hooker in "Taxi Driver" to the abused working-class woman in "The Accused" to the young FBI trainee going toe-to-toe with the evil Hannibal in "Silence of the Lambs," Foster repeatedly has found interesting roles and made them her own. The most recent of these is the backwoods recluse, "Nell." But, she says, it isn't easy to find such parts in a male-dominated industry. "Most women characters are props. They're the sister-of, wife-of, mother-of, daughter-of," Foster says. "They aren't the ones who change during the film. They get wrapped in a cord so the guy can come save them. "They don't have any dramatic drive, as heroes," she adds. "If I sat around waiting for the perfect female, I'd never work. I usually have to find what I want, and then change it. That's what I did for `Sommersby' or even `Maverick."' "Nell" came her way through producer Renee Missel, who'd seen the character portrayed in a one-act play by Mark Handley called "Idioglossia." But Foster knew the project needed work before it could ever be a movie, and it would be up to her to flesh out and develop the central character. "It's your job as an actor to do that, because nobody's going to do that for you." Asked what draws her to certain characters in the first place, Foster says, "They're people that you'd pass by in the supermarket and never pay any attention to. Usually, they're characters who've been marginalized by our society or about whom other people say they don't matter. "I'm attracted by people I couldn't be. But if I was in their situations, I'd react the same way." "The opposite of these characters is an actress who went to Yale, got good graces, and followed the system," she says, describing herself. "These characters are shadow sides of me. "I also like characters who go on a journey." Nell's travels take her from a life as a young girl raised in isolation, deep in the woods, by an eccentric mother, to encounters with other people and the outside world. But Foster's challenge was creating a character totally free of the normal realm of experience. "I was scared to death," Foster says. "I had no idea what I was going to do. The script says, `... and she dances.' What's that mean? Why? "I had to create a logical reason for each thing she does." Foster also had to develop bits of dancing that reflected nothing familiar, as well as an unorthodox, homemade language, altered by a slur. She first talked with all sorts of choreographers and linguists, but ultimately she scrapped her research. "I decided (creating this role) was about being at peace with myself. I just decided to drink coffee, watch TV and go to work when they say `Action.' I decided I was going to feel it and not `think it' like I usually do." We're talking over lunch in a restaurant at Washington, D.C.'s Four Seasons Hotel. The 32-year-old Foster is smart and attractive in a black Armani suit, worn over a half-unbuttoned silk shirt. The conversation is going well, so I risk plunging into the darker corners of the Foster mystique. When she was a teen-age freshman at Yale, the former child star went through a nightmare: A demented fan named John Hinckley shot President Reagan, apparently influenced by his love of her character in "Taxi Driver." Did Foster ever think at the height of that horror that she'd eventually restore her life and career to the extent that she has? "As you know, I never talk about that," she says, "However, in an abstract way, I'll say that the pains you have when you're 12 or 10 or 15 or 18, when you have first experiences, you think it's always going to be like that. You just can't know that someday it'll be over. "But, it IS over and it's part of history that has nothing to do with me, but will always be part of my life. Yet, interestingly, most people today, especially younger people, don't even know about it. "I never comment on it in an Oprah way because it's nobody's business. It's a vulnerable can of worms that everyone wants to see, but it's nobody's business." As for her obvious strength, Foster says, "I think I've been fortunate to be given two things. I've got survival skills from my mom, and that's a blessing, but also a curse. You can keep saying, `it's OK,' but you still have to deal with things down the line. "But I also have strong people around me who I trust and believe in, at a time when you can't trust anyone." Foster also is a rarity among Hollywood stars, because little is known about her private life. For this, she credits her long experience, starting as a model and child actor at the age of three. "If you'd been in the public eye that long, and somebody gave you a choice between having a life and not having a life, you'd choose having a life. "Maybe some 22-year-old who's waiting tables in New York will dream of being a star, and will want to blend her life into the stardom, because it somehow validates her. "I just know better, and so I fight to have a real life. Actually, Foster says, it's not really that hard. "I just go home. I don't go to the opening of Planet Hollywood. I don't understand why anyone would. "Why, on your day off, would you put on make-up and a suit and go get your picture taken at Planet Hollywood? "Being in the public eye is work. When I finish work, I want to go home." Romance is one of the elements Foster keeps out of the public eye. "I never talk about it. I keep it out of the press." Basically, Foster says, it comes down to being an actor, not a star. "When you decide to be a star, you do things like going to a no-nuke rally instead of just quietly giving money. "My great neurotic problem is trying to convince people I'm really like them. I'm not different. I don't want people to think of me as a star. It upsets me if they do."