Foster recalls her Hannibal days

“Wow,” said Jodie Foster, “I was really young!”

So the 45-year-old actress said about her performance, 17 years ago, opposite Anthony Hopkins in Jonathan Demme’s baroque 1991 horror opera “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Foster, who was one of 12 stars to introduce screenings of classic flicks at an American Film Institute benefit Wednesday in Los Angeles, wasted not a breath comparing her now-self to her then-self in terms of wrinkles, weight, or other outward signs of aging.

Instead she deconstructed the spirit of her Oscar-winning turn as agent Clarice Starling.

“There’s a fragility and a kind of unconscious awkwardness there that I don’t think I could duplicate again now that I’m 45,” Foster said.

Foster also admitted that this was the first time she had seen the movie in 15 years, which was, she added, “a real treat.”

Some jokes don’t play

A Boston women’s shelter has dropped Sandra Bernhard from its Oct. 16 benefit show after the comic joked at a stand-up show that if vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin ever visited New York, she would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers.” A spokeswoman for the shelter said, “We don’t think violence against women is a laughing matter.”

Bernhard said her comments are part of a longer routine about “racism, freedom, women’s rights and the extreme views of Gov. Sarah Palin,” adding, “I certainly wish Gov. Palin no harm.”

Britney’s a role model!

People reports that Britney Spears visited John Philip Sousa Junior High in the Bronx on Wednesday to donate $10,000 to the school from the coffers of Elizabeth Arden, which makes scents that bear the pop star’s name.

Scorsese, De Niro team up again

Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese are uniting for the ninth time. Scorsese’s film “I Heard You Paint Houses” will be adapted from Charles Brandt’s true crime book about reputed mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, who confessed to killing and dismembering Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa on orders from mob boss Russell Bufalino.

Life’s good on the ‘Fringe’

Fox has ordered a full season of J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi thriller “Fringe,” reports Variety. The show ranks No. 1 among new shows in the adults 18-to-49 demographic. Abrams is behind “Lost,” the big-screen thriller “Cloverfield” and the forthcoming “Star Trek” feature.

It’s a bear market in L.A.

DreamWorks Animation, which has made more than $626 million worldwide with its animated film “Kung Fu Panda,” has signed Jack Black and Angelina Jolie to reprise their voiceover roles. According to Variety, a sequel titled “Pandamonium” is due in 2011.

The birthday bunch

Author Anne Rice is 67. Actor Clifton Davis (“Amen”) is 63. Actress Susan Sarandon is 62. Actor Armand Assante is 59. Actor Alan Rosenberg is 58. Rap producer Russell Simmons is 51. Singer Jon Secada is 47. Actor Liev Schreiber (“The Manchurian Candidate”) is 41. Actor Abraham Benrubi (“ER”) is 39. Actress Alicia Silverstone is 32. Singer-guitarist Marc Roberge of O.A.R. is 30. Actress Rachel Leigh Cook (“She’s All That”) is 29.