Minnie Driver

Amelia Fiona "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English[1] American actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting (1997) for her role as Skylar, and an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for her work in the television series The Riches (2007–2008). Her film work includes Sleepers, Big Night, Grosse Pointe Blank, Tarzan, Return to Me, Ella Enchanted, The Phantom of the Opera, Conviction, Barney's Version, and Beyond the Lights. She starred as Fiona Bowa on the NBC sitcom About a Boy and currently stars as Maya DiMeo on the ABC sitcom Speechless.
== Early life and education ==
Driver was born in Marylebone, London.[2] Her mother, Gaynor Churchward (née Millington), is a fabric designer and former couture model. Her father, Charles Ronald Driver (1921–2009), was born in Swansea, Wales, of English and Scottish descent;[3] he earned the Distinguished Flying Medal for his role in the Battle of Heligoland Bight[4] and was a director of London United Investments.[3][5][6]
Her parents never married,[4] as her father was married to another woman throughout his relationship with her mother. Her parents separated when Minnie was six years old.[7] She was sent to Bedales School, Hampshire, as a boarder.[7]Ronald Driver moved to Barbados, where Minnie spent her school holidays. She later attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art,[8] and Collingham College, an independent college in Kensington.[9] Minnie has an older sister, Kate, who is a film producer and manager, and two younger half-brothers: Charlie Driver from her father's subsequent marriage, and Ed Churchward from her mother's subsequent marriage.[7]
== Career ==
=== Acting ===
Driver's television debut was in a 1991 TV advertisement for Right Guarddeodorant.[10] Driver also made her stage debut in 1991, supplementing her income by performing as a jazz vocalist and guitarist.[11] 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 Actressand a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In 1998, Driver starred in Sandra Goldbacher's film The Governess.[12] That same 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[13] and a Golden Globe Awardas Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2007 and 2008, respectively.[14] 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".[15] She also starred in the television series The Deep[16] and appeared in Conviction, in the comedy-drama Barney's Version, winning a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress.[17]
In October 2013, Driver started filming for The Crash.,[18] released 13 January 2017.[19]
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. On 12 May 2017, ABC announced that it had renewed the series for a second season.
=== Music ===
Driver began making music at boarding school.[20] She was part of the Milo Roth Band, which received a recording contract when she was 19.[20] In 2001 she signed with EMI and Rounder Records and performed at the SXSW music festival.[21] The title song of Everything I've Got in My Pocket, her first album, reached No. 34[22] 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.[23]
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.[24] Driver released a third album in October 2014 called Ask Me to Dance that includes songs by Elliott Smith, Neil Youngand The Killers.[25]
== Personal life ==
Driver was engaged to Josh Brolin in 2001.[26] On 5 September 2008, Driver gave birth to a son, whom she named Henry,[27][28] from a brief relationship with television writer and producer Timothy J. Lea (CSI: NY, Lie to Me, Unforgettable).[29]
In 2013, Driver appeared on an episode of the documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, in which she searched for information about her late father and found that he had a brother, Leslie, who became an actor in repertory theatre.[30]
On 11 October 2016, Driver said that she had been sexually assaulted at the age of 17 while on holiday in Greece.[31][32]
On 21 December 2017, Driver became an American citizen.[33][34][35][36]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1992	The Zebra Man 	Emily Ashdown 	Short
1995	Circle of Friends 	Bernadette "Benny" Hogan	
1995	GoldenEye 	Irina 	
1996	Big Night 	Phyllis 	
1996	Sleepers 	Carol Martinez 	
1997	Grosse Pointe Blank 	Debi Newberry 	
1997	Good Will Hunting 	Skylar Satenstein 	
1998	Hard Rain 	Karen 	
1998	The Governess 	Rosina da Silva 	
1998	At Sachem Farm 	Kendal 	
1998	An All Dogs Christmas Carol 	Belladonna 	UK version (voice)
1999	An Ideal Husband 	Miss Mabel Chiltern 	
1999	Princess Mononoke 	Lady Eboshi 	Voice: English version
1999	Tarzan 	Jane Porter 	Voice
1999	South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 	Brooke Shields 	Voice
1999	An American Tail: The Mystery of The Night Monster	Madame Mousey 	UK version (voice)
2000	Return to Me 	Grace Briggs 	
2000	Beautiful 	Mona Hiburd 	
2000	Slow Burn 	Trina McTeague 	
2000	The Upgrade 	Constance Levine 	Short
2001	High Heels and Low Lifes 	Shannon 	
2001	D.C. Smalls 	Waitress 	Short
2003	Owning Mahowny 	Belinda 	
2003	Hope Springs 	Vera Edwards 	
2004	Ella Enchanted 	Mandy 	
2004	Portrait 	Donna 	Short
2004	The Phantom of the Opera 	Carlotta 	
2006	The Virgin of Juarez 	Karina Danes 	
2007	Take 	Ana Nichols 	
2007	Ripple Effect 	Kitty 	
2009	Motherhood 	Sheila 	
2010	Conviction 	Abra 	
2010	Barney's Version 	Mrs. P 	
2011	Hunky Dory 	Vivienne Mae 	
2012	Goats 	Shaman 	Uncredited
2013	I Give It a Year 	Naomi 	
2014	Return to Zero 	Maggie Royal 	
2014	Stage Fright 	Kylie Swanson 	
2014	Beyond the Lights 	Macy Jean 	
2015	Unity 	Narrator 	Documentary
2017	The Crash 	Shannon Clifton 	
2017	The Wilde Wedding 	Priscilla Jones 	
2018	Spinning Man 	Ellen Birch 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1990 	God on the Rocks 	Lydia 	Movie
1991 	The House of Eliott 	Mary 	Episode #1.4
1991 	Casualty 	Zena Mitchell 	Episode: "The Last Word"
1992 	Lovejoy 	Sarah 	Episode: "Kids"
1992 	Kinsey 	Louise Kinsey 	3 episodes
1993 	Maigret 	Arlette 	Episode: "Maigret and the Night Club Dancer"
1993 	Mr. Wroe's Virgins 	Leah 	4 episodes
1993 	Screen One 	Sally 	Episode: "Royal Celebration"
1994 	The Day Today 	Mila Milandrovicz / Lally Sampson	2 episodes
1994 	Peak Practice 	Sue Keel 	Episode: "Enemy Within"
1994 	Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge	Daniella Forrest 	Episode #1.2
1994 	That Sunday 	Rachel 	Short
1995 	My Good Friend 	Ellie 	7 episodes
1995 	The Politician's Wife 	Jennifer Caird 	3 episodes
1995 	Cruel Train 	Flora Mussell 	Movie
1996 	Murder Most Horrid 	Sgt. Cole 	Episode: "Confess"
2000 	The X-Files 	Cinema Audience 	Uncredited
Episode: "Hollywood A.D."
2003; 2004; 2017	Will & Grace 	Lorraine Finster 	7 episodes
2003 	Absolutely Fabulous 	Herself 	Episode: "Panickin'"
2007–08 	The Riches 	Dahlia Malloy 	20 episodes
2010 	Modern Family 	Valerie 	Episode: "Moon Landing"
2010 	The Deep 	Frances Kelly 	5 episodes
Miniseries
2011 	Hail Mary 	Mary Beth Baker 	Movie
2012 	Lady Friends 	Jennifer Rensen 	Movie
2012 	Web Therapy (original web series) 	Allegra Favreau 	3 episodes
2012 	QuickBites 	Ellen 	Episode: "Food for Thought"
2012 	Web Therapy(Showtime series) 	Allegra Favreau 	2 episodes
2013 	Hollywood Game Night 	Herself 	Episode: "The Office Party"
2014 	Hell's Kitchen 	Herself 	Episode: "7 Chefs Again"
2014 	The Red Tent 	Leah 	2 episodes
2014–2015 	About a Boy 	Fiona Bowa 	Main role
33 episodes
2014 	Peter Pan Live! 	Narrator / Adult Wendy Darling 	TV special
2015 	Undateable 	Ally's Friend 	Episode: "A Live Show Walks Into a Bar: Part 1"
2015 	SuperMansion 	Debbie Devizo 	2 Episodes
2016–present 	Speechless 	Maya DiMeo 	Lead role
== Idea Wiki roles ==
* Once Upon a Studio: Version 2.0 - Jane Porter (also providing her singing voice)
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Award 	Category 	Nominated work 	Result
1995	Chicago Film Critics Association Award 	Most Promising Actress 	Circle of Friends 	Won
1996	London Film Critics' Circle Award 	British Supporting Actress of the Year 	Big Night 	Nominated
1996	London Film Critics' Circle Award 	British Supporting Actress of the Year 	Sleepers 	Nominated
1997	Academy Award 	Best Supporting Actress 	Good Will Hunting 	Nominated
1997	London Film Critics' Circle Award 	British Supporting Actress of the Year 	Good Will Hunting 	Won
1997	Satellite Award 	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 	Good Will Hunting 	Nominated
1997	Screen Actors Guild Award 	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role	Good Will Hunting 	Nominated
1997	Screen Actors Guild Award 	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 	Good Will Hunting 	Nominated
1998	MTV Movie Award 	Best Kiss (shared with Matt Damon) 	Good Will Hunting 	Nominated
1999	Annie Award 	Voice Acting in a Feature Production 	Tarzan 	Nominated
2004	Satellite Award 	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 	The Phantom of the Opera	Nominated
2004	London Film Critics' Circle Award 	British Supporting Actress of the Year 	The Phantom of the Opera	Nominated
2007	Golden Globe Award 	Best Actress – Television Series Drama 	The Riches 	Nominated
2007	Primetime Emmy Award 	Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series 	The Riches 	Nominated
2007	Satellite Award 	Best Actress – Television Series Drama 	The Riches 	Nominated
2007	California Independent Film Festival Award	Best Actress 	Take 	Won
2007	Phoenix Film Festival 	Best Acting Ensemble 	Take 	Won
2007	Tiburon International Film Festival Award 	Best Actress 	Take 	Won
2010	Genie Award 	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role 	Barney's Version 	Won
2010	London Film Critics' Circle Award 	British Supporting Actress of the Year 	Barney's Version 	Nominated
2010	Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award 	Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film 	Barney's Version 	Nominated
2015	Critics' Choice Television Award 	Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries 	Return to Zero 	Nominated
2015	Primetime Emmy Award 	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie 	Return to Zero 	Nominated
2017	People's Choice Awards 	Favorite Actress in a New TV Series 	Speechless 	Nominated