Minnie Driver
Born: 31st January 1970
Where: London, England, UK
The Oscar-nominated English actress has enjoyed international attention success from roles ranging from Skylar in Good Will Hunting to Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera.
Raised in Barbados, she enjoyed a privileged upbringing and attended finishing schools in Paris and Grenoble.
As a youngster she was inspired to act after seeing Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice and trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Early appearances included the part of a mum at the schoolgates in a Halifax Bank advert and she also worked as a singer and jazz guitarist in London.
On TV, she landed roles in The House of Eliott, Casualty, Mr Wroe's Virgins and also worked with Steve Coogan and Armando Ianucci in the comedies The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You.
Her big screen debut came when she appeared, 25 pounds heavier, in Circle of Friends, as a small-town girl who heads to a Dublin university and learns about love and life.
A slimmer Driver next appeared in GoldenEye, with Pierce Brosnan as 007, and landed a key role as the woman with feelings for both Brad Pitt and Jason Patric in Sleepers.
Driver co-starred with John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank, and with Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
In 1997, she formed her own production company - Two Drivers - with her sister Kate, which led to work on At Sachem Farm, which she produced.
A steady stream of roles followed: Hard Rain with Christian Slater, Return to Me with David Duchovny, and the British comedy High Heels and Low Lifes.
In 2003 Driver appeared opposite fellow Brit, Colin Firth, in Hope Springs, then co-starred in crime thriller Owning Mahowny with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The following year she played Carlotta in the big screen version of The Phantom of the Opera.
Minor roles followed until she landed the part of Dahlia Molloy opposite Eddie Izzard in the hit American comedy The Riches.
Recent roles include voice work for The Simpsons Movie.
