Conversations with Minnie Driver (2014)

Career Q&A with Minnie Driver on November 25, 2014. Moderated by Oliver Jones.

Minnie Driver first came to the attention of audiencesand critics in 1995 for her critically acclaimed performance in Circle of Friends, in which she starred with Chris O’Donnell. She went on to earn Oscar and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for supporting actress in the Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting, directed by Gus Van Sant.

Among Driver’s critically acclaimed performances are the films Take, Grosse Pointe Blank, Return to Me, An Ideal Husband, Walt Disney’s Tarzan, Beautiful, Ella Enchanted, Sleepers and Conviction.

In 2011, Driver received the Genie Award for supporting actress for her role as a New York Jewish American princess and the second of Paul Giamatti’s three wives in the film Barney’s Version.

Driver co-starred on the FX television series The Riches and received an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for her role. She also made several guest appearances on NBC’s Emmy-winning comedy Will & Grace.

Most recently, Driver starred in the television movie Return to Zero and was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award and Emmy Award for her work in the film.

Driver stars as Fiona on NBC’s comedy About a Boy and the feature Beyond the Lights.

On stage, Driver appeared at London’s Comedy Theatre with Matthew Perry and Hank Azaria in David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago. The play held the record for the largest box-office advance for a West End showat that time. Other theatrical productions include: The Comedy of Errors, The Married Man, School for Scandal and Camino Real.

A singer before she became an actress — she lent her vocals to Learn to be Lonely, written by Andrew Lloyd Weber for the 1995 film version of his Phantom of the Opera. The song, which played over the end credits, was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar. She also made an indelible impression as Carlotta, the reigning Italian opera house diva, and earned a nomination by the London Critics Circle for British supporting actress.

Driver released her debut album, Everything in MyPocket, in 2004. In 2007, her second album, Sea Stories, was released. Her latest album, Ask Me to Dance, features Minnie covering of a wide array ofartists – from Elliott Smith to Neil Young to Frank Sinatra.