Minnie Driver

Minnie Driver (born Amelia Fiona J. Driver; 31 January 1970) is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches. Driver was born Amelia Fiona J. Driver in Finsbury Park, London, the daughter of Gaynor Churchward (née Millington), a designer and former couture model, and Ronnie Driver, a Welsh businessman and financial advisor from Swansea. Driver's mother was her father's mistress, and her father's wife was not aware of his other family. Driver has Irish, Welsh, Scottish, French, and Italian ancestry. Her sister, Kate, is a model and producer. Driver was brought up in Barbados and educated at Bedales, an independent school near Petersfield, Hampshire, England, and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She made her stage debut in 1991, supplementing her income by performing as a jazz vocalist and guitarist. Driver first came to broad public attention when she played the lead role in Circle of Friends in 1995. She followed this with a string of supporting roles in big studio films like the 17th James Bond installment GoldenEye (1995), Sleepers (1996) or Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). She achieved greater recognition playing opposite Matt Damon in Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting (1997), a role for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award, among others.

Also Known As: Amelia Fiona Driver, Amelia Fiona J. Driver