Early life

Driver was born in St. Marylebone, London. 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, to English and Scottish parents; he received 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 someone else throughout the relationship with her mother. They separated when Minnie was six years old. She was sent to Bedales School, Hampshire as a boarder. Ronnie Driver moved to Barbados, where Minnie Driver spent her school holidays. She later attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Minnie has an older sister, Kate, who is a film producer and manager, and 2 younger half-brothers - Charlie Driver from her father's subsequent marriage, and Ed Churchward from her mother's subsequent marriage to polo playing vet Patrick Churchward.

Career

Acting

Driver's television debut was in a 1991 TV advertisement for Right Guard deodorant. Driver also made her stage debut in 1991, supplementing her income by performing as a jazz vocalist and guitarist. 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) 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.

In 1998, Driver starred in Sandra Goldbacher's film The Governess. 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).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 March 2007, Driver made her return to television in the FX Network show The Riches. She was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award as Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2007 and 2008, respectively. 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". She also starred in the television series The Deep and appeared in Conviction, in the comedy-drama Barney's Version, winning a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In October 2013, Driver started filming for Jekyll Island, starring alongside Frank Grillo, AnnaSophia Robb, Dianna Agron, John Leguizamo, Ed Westwick, Mary McCormack, Christopher McDonald and Maggie Q. The film is directed by Aram Rappaport and produced by Hilary Shor, Atit Shah and Aaron Becker. Jekyll Island is set to release in 2016.

Music

Driver began making music during boarding school. She was part of the Milo Roth Band, which received a recording contract when she was 19. In 2001 she signed with EMI and Rounder Records and performed at the SXSW music festival. The title song of Everything I've Got in My Pocket, her first album, reached No. 34 in the UK, and the song, "Invisible Girl" which 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.

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, due to her lack of experience in opera, 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. Driver released a third album in October 2014 called, Ask Me to Dance that includes songs by Elliott Smith, Neil Young and The Killers.

Personal life

Driver was engaged to Josh Brolin in 2001. In September 2008, Driver gave birth to a son, whom she named Henry, from a brief relationship with television producer Timothy J. Lea.

In 2013, Driver appeared on an episode of the reality show Who Do You Think You Are?, in which she searched for information about her deceased father.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	The Zebra Man	Emily Ashdown	Short
1995	Circle of Friends	Bernadette "Benny" Hogan	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress
1995	GoldenEye	Irina
1996	Big Night	Phyllis	London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
1996	Sleepers	Carol Martinez	London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
1997	Grosse Pointe Blank	Debi Newberry	London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
1997	Good Will Hunting	Skylar Satenstein	London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
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 Nominated - Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
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	Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
2006	The Virgin of Juarez	Karina Danes
2007	Take	Ana Nichols	California Independent Film Festival Award for Best Actress Phoenix Film Festival Copper Wing Award for Best Acting Ensemble Tiburon International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2007	Ripple Effect	Kitty
2009	Motherhood	Sheila
2010	Conviction	Abra
2010	Barney's Version	Mrs. P	Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Awards for British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated - Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film
2011	Hunky Dory	Vivienne Mae
2012	Goats	Shaman	Uncredited
2013	I Give It a Year	Naomi
2014	Return to Zero	Maggie Royal	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated-Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
2014	Stage Fright	Kylie Swanson
2014	Beyond the Lights	Macy Jean
2016	Jekyll Island	Shannon Clifton	Post-Production

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	Absolutely Fabulous	Herself	1 Episode
2003; 2004	Will & Grace	Lorraine Finster	6 episodes
2007	ReVisioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series	Lara Croft	9 episodes
2007-08	The Riches	Dahlia Malloy	20 episodes Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama
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	QuickBites	Ellen	Episode: Food for Thought
2012	Web Therapy	Allegra Favreau	3 episodes
2013	Hollywood Game Night	Herself	Episode: The Office Party
2014	Peter Pan Live!	Narrator / Adult Wendy Darling	TV special
2014	The Red Tent	Leah	2 episodes
2014-2015	About a Boy	Fiona Bowa	Main role
2015	Undateable	Ally's Friend	Guest Star on Live Episode

Other

Year	Title	Role
1998	Jurassic Park: Trespasser	Anne

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US Heat	Label
2004	Everything I've Got in My Pocket	43	Zoë
2007	Seastories	25
2014	Ask Me to Dance	11	Rounder

Singles

Year	Single	Album
2004	"Invisible Girl"	Everything I've Got in My Pocket
2005	"Everything I've Got in My Pocket"

Charities

Minnie Driver supports the following charitable causes: Children, Cancer, Animals, Diabetes, World Poverty & Hunger.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]