Minnie Driver

Minnie Driver
Driver at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Amelia Fiona Jessica Driver (1970-01-31) 31 January 1970 (age 51) London, England
Nationality	British American (from 2017)
Alma mater	Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress singer songwriter
Years active	1991–present
Partner(s)	Addison O'Dea (2019–present; engaged)
Children	1
Website	minniedriver.com

Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English and American^[1] actress and singer. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's Circle of Friends. She would go on to star in a wide range of films after that including the cult classic Grosse Pointe Blank, Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting for which she was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award, the musical The Phantom of the Opera, Owning Mahowny, and providing the voice of Lady Eboshi in Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.

In television, Driver starred with Eddie Izzard in The Riches for which she was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She has starred in the ABC sitcom Speechless, the NBC sitcom About a Boy, and in a recurring role in the NBC series Will & Grace. She has also starred in several miniseries in the UK including The Deep for BBC One.

Predating her work as an actress, Driver started as a singer and has released three full solo albums over the span of her career. She has also lent her voice to a variety of animated series and films including SuperMansion and Tarzan as well as video games including Jurassic Park: Trespasser.

Early life and education[]

Amelia Fiona Jessica Driver was born in London.^[2][3] The nickname Minnie was given to her by her older sister Kate Driver.^[4][5] Her mother, Gaynor Churchward (née Millington), was a fabric designer and former couture model. Her father, Charles Ronald Driver, was born in Swansea, Wales, of English and Scottish descent;^[6] he earned the Distinguished Flying Medal for his role in the Battle of Heligoland Bight^[7] and was a director of London United Investments.^[6][8][9]

Her parents never married,^[7] as her father was married to another woman throughout his relationship with Minnie's mother. Her parents separated when Minnie was six years old.^[5] She was sent to Bedales School in Hampshire as a boarder soon after.^[5] Ronald Driver moved to Barbados where Minnie spent her school holidays. She later attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art,^[10] and Collingham College, an independent college in Kensington.^[11] Minnie's older sister Kate is a film producer and manager. She also has one older half-sister, Susan Driver, from her father's prior marriage, and two younger half-brothers: Charlie Driver from Ronald's subsequent marriage, and Ed Churchward from her mother's subsequent one.^[5][12]

Career[]

Acting[]

Driver's television debut was in a 1991 TV advertisement for Right Guard deodorant.^[13] Driver also made her stage debut in 1991, supplementing her income by performing as a jazz vocalist and guitarist.^[14] She appeared on British television with comedians Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci, and had small parts in Casualty, The House of Eliott, Lovejoy and Peak Practice. Driver gained broader public attention when she played the lead role in Circle of Friends in 1995. She followed this with supporting roles in GoldenEye (1995), Sleepers (1996), Big Night (1996) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). She played opposite Matt Damon as Skylar in the drama Good Will Hunting (1997), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Driver was also considered to play Rose DeWitt Butaker in the 1997 film Titanic, but director James Cameron felt she was too old so Kate Winslet was cast instead.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, Driver starred in Sandra Goldbacher's film The Governess.^[15] That year, she co-starred opposite Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman in the action thriller Hard Rain. Driver has also worked on several animated features, voicing Jane in Disney's 1999 version of Tarzan and Lady Eboshi in the 1999 English-dubbed release of the Japanese film Princess Mononoke. In 2003 and 2004, she had a recurring role on Will & Grace as Lorraine Finster, the nemesis of Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) and daughter of Karen's lover, Lyle Finster (John Cleese).

In March 2007, Driver made her return to television in the FX Network show The Riches. She was nominated for an Emmy Award^[16] and a Golden Globe Award as Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2007 and 2008, respectively.^[17] She was scheduled to appear in The Simpsons Movie, although her appearance was cut from the final version. Driver appeared in the January 2010 episode of Modern Family entitled "Moon Landing".^[18] She also starred in the television series The Deep^[19] and appeared in Conviction, in the comedy-drama Barney's Version, winning a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[20]

In October 2013, Driver started filming for The Crash,^[21] released 13 January 2017.^[22]

Driver landed the lead role in the ABC sitcom Speechless, playing the mother of three children, one of whom has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The series debuted in the 2016–17 TV season. It was cancelled in May 2019 after three seasons.^[23]

Music[]

Driver began making music at boarding school.^[24] She collaborated on Bomb the Bass's album Clear, in 1994, as part of the outfit River. She was part of the Milo Roth Band, which received a recording contract when she was 19.^[24] In 2001 she signed with EMI and Rounder Records and performed at the SXSW music festival.^[25] The title song of Everything I've Got in My Pocket, her first album, reached No. 34^[26] in the UK, and the song "Invisible Girl" peaked at No. 68. Driver wrote 10 of the 11 songs on the album. In 2004, Driver was the supporting act for the Finn Brothers on the UK portion of their world tour.^[27]

In 2004, Driver played Carlotta Giudicelli in Joel Schumacher's film The Phantom of the Opera, based on the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Driver sang "Learn to be Lonely", an original song written for the film by Lloyd Webber. However, because of her lack of opera experience, all her songs as Carlotta were dubbed by opera singer Margaret Preece. Driver released her second album, Seastories, in July 2007, featuring guest appearances by Ryan Adams, the Cardinals and Liz Phair.^[28] Driver released a third album in October 2014 called Ask Me to Dance that includes songs by Elliott Smith, Neil Young and The Killers.^[29]

Podcast[]

In 2021, Driver started her podcast entitled "Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver". In the series she sits down with experts and trailblazers across disciplines and asks them the same seven questions. Some notable guests so far have been Chelsea Clinton, Nick Jonas and Cindy Crawford.^[30]

Personal life[]

Minnie has been in a relationship with Addison O'Dea since 2019.^[31][32] Previously, she was briefly engaged in 2001 to Josh Brolin.^[33]

She has a son, Henry (born 5 September 2008),^[34][35] from a brief relationship with television writer and producer Timothy J. Lea.^[36]

In 2016, Driver revealed that she had been sexually assaulted at the age of 17 while on holiday in Greece.^[37][38]

On 21 December 2017, Driver became an American citizen.^{[39][40][41][42]}

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Awards and nominations[]

Other media[]

Web[]

Video games[]

Discography[]

Albums[]

Singles[]

References[]