minnie driver claiming she was ''sick of being super famous''

[Balgoresboy]

I saw this in a headline article today online. Eh when I think of ''super famous'' I think Brad Pitt, Jenifer Aniston, Tom Cruise, J-Lo... generally people the majority of people would be familiar with and recognise their face/be a household name.

AIBU to think this b list actress is or never was ''super famous''? I struggle to think of projects she was in and I wouldn't even recognise her if I saw her on the street or on a picture. I am 35 btw too incase any1 thinks I'm too young so remember the 90s well.

She definitely had a ‘moment’ of verging on super famous in my memory (very late 40s): partly some excellent parts in well regarded films; so seen as a good actor; partly being and looking a bit different to the standard model (a very British sensibility; quite outspoken; very distinctive look); partly being part of a ‘cool’ celeb couple then the public split. I suspect she was paparazzi central for a while. She’s also continued to very much tread her own path, so I’ve kept an eye on her in a way I wouldn’t bother with some of the other ‘hot actors’ of the time.

This is one of the weirdest threads I’ve read on here. The OP is so adamant she’s right about someone else’s experience that she won’t concede an inch, despite the fact the majority of posters would classify Minnie Driver as having been very famous at one point.

Fame is a complex mix of lots of different factors - her acting roles, combined with her relationship (and the infamous breakdown of said relationship) with Matt Damon put her in the category of ‘super famous’ for a short while at least. I’m in my late 30s and definitely would know her on sight.

Whether somebody is A List is really not as straightforward as whether the earth is indeed round OP, no matter how much you insist it is.

@Balgoresboy

But when I think of ''well known for a short time in the 90s'' I think Mena Suvari or Neve Campbell who were everywhere for a stint before vanishing, but not Minnie Driver.

See, I know who Minnie Driver is, but I wouldn't recognise either of the two you mention, although I know one of the names.

I think YABU. And I also think that it's impossible to know how being famous affects an individual. I think some would cope better than others. I wouldn't deal with it at all.

Circle of friends being TV at least 3 times a year is a joy you've missed. Even if it involves a lot of slagging Chris O'Donnells oirish accent and squirming at Alan Cumming.

I think I agree with others that the perception of someone being or having been famous depend on the age of the person remembering and the kind of things they are into (movies, TV series, songs, etc).

When I read the your AIBU headline about Minnie Driver I knew exactly who she was. Funnily enough, I don't think I know or remember much of her face that I would be able to recognise her, or that I remember her from any of her work as an actress (for example, I watched Good Will Hunt when it first came out and I didn't know Minnie Driver was in it).

The reason I know her name is because she was Tom Cruise's first wife. They were married briefly, and if my memory is correct, they were married when Tom met Nicole Kidman on the set of Days of Thunder. I remember it was a bitter divorce, Tom didn't speak well of her, and that Minnie was older than him. I believe at the time Minnie and Tom got married, Minnie Driver was actually the famous half of that couple.

I don't know how but all that entanglement caught my attention at that time, maybe I read an interview with some of them on a magazine and I never forgot about it.

Whereas I didn't know who Neve Campbell or Mena Suvaris were until you explained where they had been. I remember watching Party of Five, so that rather than Scream is what makes me place Neve Campbell. And I remember the fuss about American Beauty with all the Oscars it won, and the American pie movies, so I know now who Mena Suvaris was.

But if I had to say who had been the most famous in my mind out of those three, I would have to say Minnie Driver, because that's the one I remember being famous at that time.

Mimi Rogers was Tom Cruises first wife.

If Minnie Drivers publicist had started this thread he/she couldn't have done a better job.

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria, Luke Perry is mentioned frequently by Peter and there's a whole episode about him. So it caused my young adult kids to Google him.

@Ellle wrong Minnie/mimi

Mimi Rogers. Someone to Watch Over Me.

Minnie Driver. Grosse Point Blank.

@Balgoresboy

She probably is more c list actress. She was in Sleepers as a small support role but that's the only 1 I can think of and she dated Matt Damon.

It was t a small support role. She was one of the main characters. Great film. She’s definitely not super famous though. She’s more famous recently for having a big neighbour dispute in LA. She clearly thinks she’s bigger than she is.

No barely heard of her. Wouldn't know her if I saw a picture of her, unlike "super famous" stars.

[quote PegasusReturns]@Ellle wrong Minnie/mimi[/quote]
D'oh.

Meg Ryan, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Alba and Megan Fox are some that spring to mind.

Omfg there's no way I'm trusting your judgement if that's your list of mega famous women.

@Balgoresboy

''It might be someone else’s idea of failure that I didn’t stay being a huge movie star.''

Again this comes back to her somewhat deluded ego, she never was a ''huge movie star.''

Why so bitchy about her? Did she piss in your cereal?

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria

I am 50.

I know exactly who she is and I know why she's called Minnie.

I'd say she was super famous at her peak and I also see why she dumped the whole thing.

This might be an age thing. It was all different when the internet was all fields...

Same. I'm similar age and I know exactly who Minnie is. I'd have said she was a very famous movie star. I had to google Mena Suvari but recognised her face when I did. Not sure I've watched anything with her in.

OP, you won't like this, but you are not the arbiter of who is famous.
You also won't like to acknowledge that at 9-11, you were too young to realise the extent of her (fleeting) fame.
She was everywhere in the mid 90s! Everywhere! Contantly being interviewed, referenced, photographed... there were columns in magazines about how to recreate her curls and dewy skin.
I think you just need to accept that you were too young to understand the level of her fame, irrespective of whether or not you were allowed to watch the Oscars.
What a weird thread.

I think the difficulty is people are confusing Minnie the actress with Minnie the Celebrity.

As an actress, Minnie was well known before GWH, but probably not A-list, but many people would have seen something she was as in. Then, she became a celebrity, due to het relationship with Matt Damon, if you total up all of her magazine covers and column inches, she was super famous at the time. Probably more for her personal life than for her work.

She was everywhere in the mid 90s! Everywhere! Contantly being interviewed, referenced, photographed... there were columns in magazines about how to recreate her curls and dewy skin.
I think you just need to accept that you were too young to understand the level of her fame, irrespective of whether or not you were allowed to watch the Oscars.
What a weird thread

Exactly.

I remember it being a big deal when she was interviewed on Graham Norton as she was such big news.

@DappledThings

Just put the GPB soundtrack on Spotify to get me through through first hour of pivot table joy this morning

What a very good idea.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

If you'd said someone like Andi Macdowall I'd agree with you. She was very fleetingly famous before people realised she wasn't especially talented, just Very Pretty. I can name 2 things Andi Macdowall has been in - 4 weddings and St Elmo's Fire. Still extremely famous movies and very successful at the time, but I still would never call her super famous from 2 movies

How dare you! Groundhog Day and Green Card were immense. I had them recorded on VHS.

... Mena Suvari.

I read that Harvry Weinstein derailed her career.

@purpledagger

... Mena Suvari.

I read that Harvry Weinstein derailed her career.

I think we've got a full house now

Do you mean Mira Sorvino? She was blacklisted due to Harvey Weinsteins false rumours, as was Ashley Judd

We've gone from Minnie Driver to Mena Suvari to Mimi Rogers to Mira Sorvino

headline article today online

You know the way click bait is used to draw in people who wouldn't otherwise read an article. And the way journalists will ask lots of potentially intrusive questions and even use the quotes they do get out of context. And that papers sometimes just lie and then pay any fine and publish an apology in very small print.

All these things make it really difficult to judge the truth of any story you will ever read.

Worth thinking about before, or even after, you have an opinion about a person you really do not know in any meaningful way.

Even amongst family and friends that you know very well, it is possible to get the wrong end of the stick about anything you hear them say. With people you actually know, you can ask them what they meant or even what on earth they were thinking, and get to some sort of reasonable understanding.

'Celebs' as quoted and written about in magazines are not real people in the sense that family and friends are real. By all means listen to half truths about them and assign meaning because you find it interesting and satisfying.

Just do not imaging it has much to do with the real person you are judging.

@Xmasbaby11

I'm 45 and knew Minnie Driver as a Hollywood actress in the 90s. Yes she was v famous at the time, similar to the other women mentioned.

As well as the other films mentioned she was the lead it The Truth about Cats and Dogs - I think!

I'm your age and from America and agree. She was very famous in the 90s.