Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress and singer. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's Circle of Friends. She went on to star in a wide range of films 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 and raised in Barbados until she was six. The nickname Minnie was given to her by her older sister Kate in childhood.
Her mother, Gaynor Churchward (née Millington) (1937–2021), was a fabric designer and former couture model. Her father, Charles Ronald Driver (1921–2009), was born in Swansea, Wales, and was of English and Scottish descent. He earned the Distinguished Flying Medal for his role in the Battle of Heligoland Bight and was a director of London United Investments.
Her parents never married as her father was married to another woman throughout his relationship with Minnie's mother. Her parents broke off their relationship when Minnie was six years old. She was sent to Bedales School in Hampshire as a boarder soon after. She later attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and Collingham College, an independent college in Kensington, Central London. 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, a football agent, from Ronald's subsequent marriage, and Ed Churchward from her mother's subsequent one.
