At 52, Minnie Driver Is Adamant About Not Letting Age ‘Change Anything About My Life’

Mar 14, 2023

The path to success is not a straightforward one in the world of entertainment. Whether you’ve been a child movie star or achieved your stardom later in life, being a celebrity isn’t a cookie-cutter career. For actress Minnie Driver, her career has been full of opportunities and new beginnings. 

Born in London on Jan. 31, 1970, Minnie got her big break in 1991 when she landed her first commercial acting gig for Right Guard deodorant. Minnie started to break into feature films when she landed her first major supporting role in “Circle of Friends” in 1995. The jobs started to roll in for the young British-American actress not long after. 

Minnie’s breakthrough role came in 1995 when she starred opposite Matt Damon in the film “Good Will Hunting.” Driver played Skylar, the girlfriend of Damon’s character, and her performance earned her critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film’s success propelled Minnie into the spotlight, and she quickly became a sought-after actress in Hollywood.

Following her success in “Good Will Hunting,” Minnie appeared in a string of films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, including “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “An Ideal Husband,” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” She also lent her voice to the Disney animated film “Tarzan.”

Minnie was engaged shortly in 2001 to actor Josh Brolin before calling it off. In 2008, she had a son, Henry Story Driver, before settling into a long-term relationship with current partner  Addison O’Dea. 

Minnie has also worked on projects away from the big screen, such as launching her own production company and starting a podcast. Also among them is her memoir, which she released in 2022, in which she shared her philosophy on beauty and aging.

In 2021, Minnie shared with The Guardian how much she was enjoying her “crone years.” She said:

“I’m at this age now, 51, where you can look back over a vast stretch of time and also look forward with so much clarity, in a way. There’s something incredibly powerful about that. Joyful. A weird freedom, even as our bodies start to betray us. We’re so funny about getting older but there is something in my heart that feels glad and excited about what’s coming. … I’d like for women to hear that. All those girls in their 20s and their 30s and early 40s, I so want to say to them: ‘It’s all right. It’s better than all right.’”

She touched on the touchy subject of age again in her memoir, “Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays,” released in May 2022. The collection of essays centers around the actress’ bohemian upbringing, her travails as a single mother, the ups and downs of fame and the tragic passing of her mother.

While promoting the book, Minnie appeared on Good Morning America, where she revealed some of her personal feelings about aging.

“I don’t really stop with the whole notion of getting older. It bugs me the whole idea that I have to change anything about my life, because I feel exactly the same on the inside,” she said.

Minnie also expressed how meaningful motherhood has been for her. “When you have a child of your own, you get to, in a way, revisit, maybe, the parts of your own childhood that didn’t go the way that maybe you wish they had. You get to be the parent that your parents want. You also get to pass on what was great that your parents taught you,” she told the outlet.

A large part of Minnie’s charm and appeal in Hollywood has also been her gorgeous head of curly hair, which set her apart from the industry’s starlets of her day. The actress was never one to hide her inherent beauty, instead preferring to highlight and flaunt her natural ringlets and freckles. In July 2022, she shared with Entertainment Tonight that her hair played a major role in her well-being. 

“The healthier your hair looks, the better you feel,” Minnie said and added, “We associate shiny, healthy, strong hair with youthfulness, and while I’m not advocating that anybody tries to look 25 when they’re over the age of 50, I think you can embrace all of these things that have to do with health, vigorousness and athleticism. Strong, healthy hair says that to me, so that’s why I always pursue that.”

She also recalled her immense regret after getting her worst haircut. 

“There is a whole story in my book, ‘Managing Expectations,’ about when I cut my hair like my sister who had straight blonde hair. She had a very short, beautiful bob and I cut my hair the same way and looked like Sideshow Bob and Koko the Clown had a really unattractive teenager. It was awful and really sad. I cried a lot and wore a scarf around my head for a long time,” she recounted.

Minnie also is not afraid to air her true feelings on society’s views on aging, taking to Twitter to write:

“Sick of this ’50 is the new...’ 50 has always been 50. Women were previously just expected to shrivel and accept their husk. I suppose it must be terrifying to a lot (of) men if we actually burned brighter, hotter, more ambitious and emancipated from shame, the older we got. #50”

Do you agree with Minnie Driver’s feelings about aging? What pearls of wisdom would you include in your own memoir if you were to write one? Let us know and don’t forget to pass this on to your friends and family who are aging beautifully!