Born:
January 31, 1971
in
London
Best Known For:
Good Will Hunting.
Early-life:
Born Amelia Fiona Driver on January 31, 1971, in Finsbury Park, London. Amelia was dubbed Minnie when her sister, Kate, couldn't pronounce her name. Her father was a businessman, her mother an interior designer. Driver was raised in Barbados, but attended Bedales School and finishing schools in Paris and Grenoble, after which she enrolled at the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts. She made ends meet by working as a singer and guitarist.
Career:
Driver's TV debut was in 1990's God on the Rocks. She then appeared in The House of Eliott, and Mr Wroe's Virgins. Her big break came in 1995 when she starred in The Politician's Wife and Circle of Friends. Her most notable movies since include Sleepers, Good Will Hunting (for which she received an Oscar nomination), Grosse Pointe Blank, and Return to Me. In 2003 she appeared in the West End opposite Matthew Perry. She returned to the big screen in the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, and released her debut album in 2004. More recently she's appeared in TV series The Riches and The Deep, and on the big screen in Barney's Version and I Give It A Year.
Quote:
"I box as a sport, but I'd never box with a man. I'm not afraid of getting hurt. Quite the opposite: I'm afraid I'd get carried away and hurt the guy."
Trivia:
She was inspired to act after being bowled over by Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (1982).