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.

It is not ''my perception'', I am pointing out that Driver never headlined any big films but Campbell did, the Screams were very big in the 90s.

So? That doesn’t necessarily contribute to how famous someone is.

Jennifer Lopez’s back catalogue of films is not exactly the stuff of Oscars, and yet she’s still mega famous.

@LimeRedBanana

It is not ''my perception'', I am pointing out that Driver never headlined any big films but Campbell did, the Screams were very big in the 90s.

So? That doesn’t necessarily contribute to how famous someone is.

Jennifer Lopez’s back catalogue of films is not exactly the stuff of Oscars, and yet she’s still mega famous.

No one would call Jennifer Lopez an actress before a singer. She is famous as a singer.

She was super famous for a while.

Wow, seriously, all of you really don't know who Minnie Driver is? And in her own right, not as Matt Damon's partner

Agree. Minnie Driver is someone most people my age/social group would definitely know about. I like her actually.

''So? That doesn’t necessarily contribute to how famous someone is.

Jennifer Lopez’s back catalogue of films is not exactly the stuff of Oscars, and yet she’s still mega famous.''

Yes it is, for somebody to be in the ''super famous'' league, they usually need something like a hit tv series, be in a big franchise or string of big films. J Lo is famous for her music career too and has done some pretty big well known films if you check.

She has said something similar before she never had the desire to be a big star

Oh ok Minnie

It’s such a bizarre thing to get into an argument about.

I think Minnie Driver was pretty famous back in the 90s. At least as famous, if not more so, than the likes of Mena Suvari and Neve Campbell.

It’s not a mathematical equation where either of us can prove the other right or wrong.

Minnie Driver was famous and has worked for years. I'd definitely recognise her. She also has quite a distinctive voice.

Circle of Friends film was dire (not blaming Minnie for that - why did they cast Chris O'Donnell??).

I queued behind Neve Campbell to get a sandwich. She was very polite to the sandwich maker so she gets a thumbs up from me (ex-waitress).

''Jennifer Lopez’s back catalogue of films is not exactly the stuff of Oscars, and yet she’s still mega famous.''

And can I add to this that many huge actresses who were or are ''super famous'' have had films that were far from Oscar material and usually trashy stuff yet the films sold well and give them their super stardom.

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

Between 95 and 97 was famous very quickly
Circle of friends with Chris O'Donnell
Big Night with Stanley Tucci
Sleepers with Brad Pitt et al
Grosse point blank with John Cusack
Good will hunting got Oscar nomination

Has worked consistently since but not that many memorable leads. Return to me with David Duchovny was okay

Not in the truth about cats and dogs, that was Janeane Garofalo

She cameoed in Will and Grace, was a lead in the Riches alongside Eddie Izzard, About a boy (the series) and I absolutely loved her in Speechless.

Most recently played an agent in Starstruck.

So for me, B-list.
I did see her once in a fly-on-the-wall with her sister getting ready for the Oscars iirc and she did not come across very well but in recent interviews I have admired her.

www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/21/minnie-driver-oxfam-bosses-knew-what-was-going-on-and-did-nothing

www.theguardian.com/film/2021/apr/03/minnie-driver-i-did-not-have-the-appetite-to-be-a-big-movie-star

www.theguardian.com/film/2021/aug/10/minnie-driver-learned-grief-expression-love-after-losing-mother-gaynor-churchward-amazon-prime-modern-love

You're quite animated about it aren't you? What's your gripe with her?

She was very (aka super) famous at one point.

''It’s not a mathematical equation where either of us can prove the other right or wrong.''

it sort of is though and it brings me back to my point that super stardom usually comes when the person headlined a very successful film or tv show or had a big music career. I, like others in this thread have struggled to come up with projects that would see Minnie Driver as being in the league of ever having being a super star.

When I think Good Will Hunting (which I didn't even know she was in), I think Matt Damon or Robin Williams.

Wasn’t Barbara Streisand her ex mother in law?

from second interview above...

She said recently that the producers of Good Will Hunting hadn’t wanted her for the part of Skylar, the Harvard student who falls for Matt Damon’s janitor character, because they didn’t think she was hot. “They were probably right. I had other qualities,” she says, with a calm, crisp pride that I suspect has been a long time in the making.

I ask how you can keep that up, starting your career with such a huge, groundbreaking film and a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

“You can’t. You can’t. It’s so interesting to me as well. The idea of maintaining, of being a movie star, for decades. I clearly did not have that. I did not have the appetite.
Also, what is one’s benchmark for success? My God! It might be someone else’s idea of failure that I didn’t stay being a huge movie star. For me, I’m 51, and I’m making a living and I own a home that I love, and I have this partner and this child, and people will still hire me to do something that I love. I can’t possibly call that anything other than the most resounding success.

prospective MIL - she was once engaged to Josh Brolin

''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.''

I don't know whether she's super famous, but she was quite well known in the 90s, yes

You didn't realise she was in Good Will Hunting?

How odd.

Who do you think Minnie Driver is? Maybe you're picturing the wrong person.

You said she says "super famous", which isn't the say as her saying she was a super star or had super stardom.

So you really don't like Minnie Driver, OP. Got it.

I like her. I really liked that interview mentioned upthread. She sounds grounded, intelligent and likeable. Plus, obviously, she's good at her job.

''You didn't realise she was in Good Will Hunting?

How odd''

Why exactly? I recall seen it when I was a teen but mostly remember the 2 lead actors in it.

''You said she says "super famous", which isn't the say as her saying she was a super star or had super stardom.''

Ok in in the interview unthread she referred to herself as a ''huge movie star'' at a point when she wasn't.

She was a pretty big movie star in the 90s. It's possibly for people to be that for short periods of time.

She’s on MN isn’t she? Maybe I’ve confused her with someone else

I'm 41 and Minnie Driver was pretty famous. In my opinion more so than Mena Suvari. But I suppose its what you watched back then. And I'm sure she's in a pretty new sitcom, Speechless.
I would recognise her to this day.
And although maybe not Tom cruise fame, I wouldn't want her level of fame.
My children find it hard to believe how famous Madonna and Michael Jackson were. But they were.

@Balgoresboy when I think of scream I think of Courtney Cox and David Arquette.

For some reason Neve Campbell doesn't even register with me. Can't tell you why that is, maybe because I only ever saw the first one?

But as soon as I saw Minnie Driver, I knew who you were talking about and confident I could name a few films. I could even picture her, I had to google the other two actresses you named.

''So you really don't like Minnie Driver, OP. Got it.''

I don't like or dislike her, because I don't know her really. I heard her name and can vaguely remember her in Sleepers. That was my point. I am very much into my celebrities as well and always have being.