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.

Well if that is her perspective then she is entitled to it. Perhaps she felt that being papped all the time equated to "super fame".

However, the thing I can only really think of her in is the the episode of Ab Fab were Patsy and Eddie got locked in the panic room and MD nicked all the loaner clothes that Patsy had line up for her :o

Oh and something with (I think) John Cuzack in but I cannot for the life of me remember what that was.

She was in an episode of Family Guy. Stuff like that, which repeatedly gets shown and all ages watch it, keeps you known. Mila Kunis does the voice of Meg Griffin. Animated shows opens up another platform to people who might not be that into films. My adult children 22/25 know who Like Perry is because of family guy.

Luke Perry is in FG?

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?

She was the star of the first one.

She was a huge name in the 90s (Grosse pointe blank, Sleepers, Good will hunting) but she's basically unheard of now. The last thing I saw her in was a cameo in modern family.

''She was a huge name in the 90s (Grosse pointe blank, Sleepers, Good will hunting) but she's basically unheard of now.''

The 1st film you mention(which I never heard of) was a small hit that made number 4 on the box office, in Sleepers she had a small support role with about 10 minutes screen time and again in Good Will Hunting she had a support role. That doesn't make her 'huge'.

I don't think Neve Campell and especially Mena Suvari were ever quite at the level Driver was, at the time she was big. The main difference being that for a time people thought she was going to be a big serious actress, from a Hollywood POV anyway. It never really came to pass but there was a feeling that she might be an a lister, whereas I am not sure that was ever so with the other two. Maybe Campbell, but that may have been mostly in Canada.

@Wbeezer

She was quite a big thing for a short while, she seemed to pop up everywhere at one time, I'm older and was maybe more aware of her. Not Tom Cruise famous, but pretty famous for a young British Actress, its all relative.

This. There was a brief period when she was everywhere, on every chat show going etc. I’m in my 50s for context.

''I don't think Neve Campell and especially Mena Suvari were ever quite at the level Driver was, at the time she was big. The main difference being that for a time people thought she was going to be a big serious actress, from a Hollywood POV anyway.''

Actually after Suvari did American Beauty people thought she was going to go on to great things as she played a complex role in 1 of the year's biggest films that did well at the Oscars.

Again though, just because Driver was anticipated to do well and was seen as a respectable ''serious actress'' doesn't mean she had more fame than the latter two as both of them were the main stars in 2 hugely successful franchises that broke box office records so effectively they did have more fame.

I'd also point out that her list of awards for roles is at a different level than the other two. Suvari has some reasonably prestigious awards, but not many. Campbell's are MTV and Blockbuster. Driver has Golden Globes and Emmys.

How old are you, Balgores?

I'm willing to bet you a mars bar that you didn't covet how on earth she got her curly hair to look that THAT, when all we had was elnett hairspray, mousse that would fill holes in building work, and diffusers.

I reckon all of my peers know exactly who Minnie Driver is.

This isn't an ageist criticism. I have zero idea of who the other two you mention are. Fame can be fleeting, and it can be massive even for a short time. I believe her when she says it was overwhelming.

I thought she was fantastic. She was bright and witty and nailed the curly hair thing.

I mostly know her these days for allegedly appearing in Jeffery Epsteins black book

Oh, and she could act.

She had talent and oodles of it.

Should probably have mentioned that, but, you know some things catch your attention more than others

@PrincessNutella

She's the one who always looked as if she had mumps.

I thank you anyway for the thread as it is distracting me from my insomnia and toothache. Fame is such a weird concept. You only have to look at the Strictly thread where we are all trying to work out who has been signed up and why. Whether it's something going viral or a fleeting moment where you get your Warhol 5 minutes; or whether it's on the back of who you're shagging or married to, or whether it's a hit song or film or TV show...you can be super famous/make it big for a while before you are relegated to character actor/has-been/C-list etc
Actors and musicians who last nearly three decades have done really really well. Chris O'Donnell was doing very well - golden globe nom then Batman Forever seemed to torpedo him. Brendan Fraser was also big at one point before plummeting until recently. Alicia Silverstone. All the actresses, whose careers were stalled by Pervy Wankstain (HW) blacklisting them.
Right now, you have Saoirse Ronan and Carey Mulligan. Scarlett Johansson and Margot Robbie. Meryl Streep and Olivia Colman. Nicole and Reece.
But streaming and apple/netflix/prime/disney etc have been gamechangers in any case, as well as Covid's effect on the cinema and red carpets. Longevity itself is a feat, especially in the face of cancel culture.
Plus super famous can now encompass tiktokers, youtubers, social influencers I am too old to have heard of
So it's a good question in itself, who the ''super famous'' are going to be next and whether they will be famous years from now; and what constitutes fame. Someone asked about big rock bands recently and it was interesting to read people's different ideas.
Finally I guess, all people's lived experience is valid to them - if a papp was accosting Minnie Driver's son recently, then she is still famous enough to warrant hassle, poor woman. So if she was in bigger movies in the 90s you can only imagine the press invasion back then, when she said she dealt with it poorly at the time. It might sound egotistical or arrogant to talk of being super famous or a huge movie star in the past tense, but we weren't there.

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
That's probably why then. You are into YOUR celebrities and I can imagine who they might be 🤣
You not knowing who she is has absolutely no bearing on her standing. Zero. Which makes this thread even more bizarre. I can't tell if you really have something against her or don't want to admit that maybe you don't know everything about 'celebrities' if that is your 'passion'.

FWIW None of them, MD, NC or MS ever 'disappeared'. They have all worked consistently. Driver probably more so.

She was in Gross Pointe Blank opposite John Cusack, she was an excellent actress. She tended to hunt down less obvious roles. She’s always said she didn’t want to do the A list thing, and resisted it after Good Will Hunting. So this isn’t news.

''I'd also point out that her list of awards for roles is at a different level than the other two. Suvari has some reasonably prestigious awards, but not many. Campbell's are MTV and Blockbuster. Driver has Golden Globes and Emmys.''

but again you are missing my point-awards or being respected in the industry still doesn't equate to being ''super famous'' and no it is not 'subjective' as another poster said.

Maybe I should have pointed it out better in my op, super famous is generally alist/mainstream/known in popular culture. So I know nothing of football but I know Beckham or Rooney as they are super famous ones but the rest I and many other non football fans would not be familiar with because whilst they may be famous they aren't 'super famous'.

So another example is Kate Winslet, brilliant actress who had Oscar nomination before Titanic and win a Bafta and Screen Guild Award before Titanic yet she became super famous after this when she did Titanic. Also some of her films where she got huge praise for and an Osar nominated for flopped and aren't well known such as 'Little Children'. My point being that winning awards or being in respected projects doesn't equate to having 'super fame' that Driver alluded to.

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

Her father did WHAT?

Come on, I read that and think "good for you".

She's a woman in her 50s who sounds totally comfortable with her life.

Wish more of us were like that.

Fucking good for you, Minnie

I’d say she was pretty famous – she’s an international film actor. Why the vitriol? Who cares how she worded it?

Hope you feel better soon,

''That's probably why then. You are into YOUR celebrities and I can imagine who they might be 🤣
You not knowing who she is has absolutely no bearing on her standing. Zero.''

Ok did I say I didn't know who she was? Sigh go read the thread mate and stp putting words into my mouth.

I watched Sleepers again the other night and she was most definitely in it for more than 10 minutes! She has a pivotal role!

OP MD was absolutely super famous for a short while I'm old enough to remember the hype. I don't know why you're classing "super famous" as someone who was in something headlining and successful, I can think of tonnes of celebs who've are super famous and never had a starring role.

I do wish you'd stop splitting hairs, stop claiming to be the paragon of knowledge on fame-level and just admit that, this time, you got it wrong.

I am 50 btw! Mena Suvari I would have put, alongside Thora Birch, as ones to watch that also didn't become household names. I don't necessarily consider Minnie Driver to be household either, as I said, B-list (although I did like her cameo in Starstruck on iplayer) but I would have placed her above the other two in the fame stakes, just because of name recognition and longer career.
Box office is a different thing entirely - I agree if you are in a successful franchise you'll be insta-famous to fans of that franchise.

David Beckham is 46.

She's 51.

That's a lifetime in fame. Especially between sport and acting. And a pretty bloke and an unconventional, if striking, woman.

And David Beckham has played fewer 90 minutes of football than Minnie Driver made award winning films.