Jodie Foster names the one word that she admires Gen Z for saying

Jodie Foster has been speaking about Gen Z again, after criticising the work ethics of younger people earlier this year.

Back in January, the actress had said that she found Gen Z – the generation born roughly between 1997 and 2012 – to be “really annoying, especially in the workplace”.

“They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.’ Or in emails, I’ll tell them, ‘This is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling?’ And they’re like, ‘Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?’”

Now, Foster has spoken about the one word that she admires Gen Z for saying – and she’s a fan of the way younger generations are more ready to say “no” and be more assertive in their choices.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM

The actress was speaking during a Hollywood Reporter roundtable discussion which also included Brie Larson, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Sofía Vergara, Naomi Watts and Anna Sawai.

The question was put to them: “What do you wish somebody had called and told you …right now in your career or at the beginning of your careers?”

Foster replied: “You can say no. For whatever reason I didn’t know that when I was young, that I can say no.”

She went on to say: “That’s what’s good about this new generation is they’re very comfortable with saying no. Very, very good at setting boundaries and going, ‘I don’t like that’ and ‘I want to do this.’ And I didn’t know that was possible when I was young.”

It comes after a millennial boss turned to TikTok to vent about the treatment of Gen Z staff and sparked a viral debate.

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