Foderingham joined the Hammers this week from Sheffield United.
"I grew up in London but my goalkeeping hero was Shay Given,” he told whufc.com. “He was someone that I always looked up to, as he was cool and made the big saves.
“David James as well, because at the time he was England goalkeeper, so I'll say those two were my idols.
“David James showed resilience, even when he made mistakes. You don’t amass that amount of Premier League appearances and caps for England without the resilience and mental strength to come back, so that’s probably why I took to him.”
On his last season with the Blades, Foderingham said: “As much as it was a difficult season, ultimately I wanted to play in the Premier League, so it's one of those things.
“I think I built up my resilience quite early in my career, having come from a club like Rangers where their fanbase is very demanding and you find out quite quickly that you need to have a thick skin and to be resilient.
“So, I think I was set up perfectly to have that season last year in the Premier League whereby, when things didn't go right or things were going against us or we were losing games, to go out there and believe in your quality, believe in your ability and to be able to do your job to the best of your ability.”