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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

677 replies

Balgoresboy · 13/08/2021 00:05

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.

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FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 13/08/2021 02:49

[quote vivariumvivariumsvivaria]Her dumping Matt Damon on Oprah is why I was a bit "meh" over Sarah Silverman's Emmy winning song about Matt Damon.

I just thought, "Minnie dumped him>

www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj0n9Tv7qzyAhVSiFwKHWe4AKoQFnoECA8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvYU7xSMPCHw&usg=AOvVaw3881wGxiykf38nRQuEmK_d[/quote]
Didn't he dump her on Oprah?

Matt Damon is a little twat of the highest order I'm even loathe to imprint his name on the internet and afford him another mention. I think we should change it to Datt Mamon Grin

SequinsandStiIettos · 13/08/2021 02:50

I think if I'd pointed out a b list actor saying this I'd have got more support

Well, no, if you had mentioned Chris O'Donnell for example, I'd have said he was super famous at the time before career going poof! Same as Brendan Fraser, who has only recently resurfaced in the Affair.
And you could have argued that they still weren't Tom Hanks big. But fleeting fame is still fame. Andie Macdowell I thought was super famous at one point - lots of make up ads, Groundhog Day is a classic, did Sex, Lies and Videotape, famously got redubbed in Greystoke.
www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-ent-my-worst-moment-andie-macdowell-0828-20190827-f7lacxzn5baxhaepyhxu4lmlby-story.html
Liz Hurley also super famous.
Maybe it's just the qualifiers super and huge. No qualifiers sound less putting yourself on a pedastal?

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 13/08/2021 02:51

Who wants to bet how old Bal is?

I reckon less than 30. And they did well in a media A level a long time ago.

And, that Bal's a boy.

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 13/08/2021 02:53

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria 🤣🤣 I agree! Not many women here moan about 'misandry' or use the word in a serious context

gobackanddoitproperly · 13/08/2021 02:54

@Balgoresboy

''I guess if Julia Roberts had done not much after Pretty Woman we could all be having the same conversation about her right now.''

no not on the same league as pw was one of the biggest films of all time and she headlined it. There isn't 1 big film that md headlined that was successful that I'm aware of and the big films she was in she was supporting.

Not exactly the same but back in the day she was a very familiar face and well recognised globally. She was very famous. I don’t know if she decided to step back or just didn’t do well. She wasn’t B list.
Aprilx · 13/08/2021 02:54

@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.
Not heard of either of those two, but I know Minnie Driver. I thought she was pretty famous, not Angelina Joli famous, but famous enough.
Original poster
Balgoresboy · 13/08/2021 02:55

''I agree! Not many women here moan about 'misandry' or use the word in a serious context''

As a mother of three boys, I value equality and dread the hatred they will get as men because there appears to be a lot of misandry on mn.

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FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 13/08/2021 02:56

OP says she is 35. Meaning she was about 11 when Good Will Hunting came out and 9 when Circle of Friend came out. 9 and 11 in a pre-social media world, at an age where kids care little for celeb culture, where the Minnie fans would've been late teens and 20's. Not surprised OP doesn't remember someone from her childhood as 'super famous'.

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 13/08/2021 02:58

@Balgoresboy

''I agree! Not many women here moan about 'misandry' or use the word in a serious context''

As a mother of three boys, I value equality and dread the hatred they will get as men because there appears to be a lot of misandry on mn.

🙄🙄🙄

As the mother of a boy and a girl, it's really not boys being called out on sexism (which is what some people think is misandry, in fact is) you need to worry about.

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 13/08/2021 02:58

''Same as Brendan Fraser, who has only recently resurfaced in the Affair.''

but Brendan Fraser had a string of very successful films that he headlined, MD never had that.

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Original poster
Balgoresboy · 13/08/2021 03:00

''As the mother of a boy and a girl, it's really not boys being called out on sexism (which is what some people think is misandry, in fact is) you need to worry about.''

Well I wasn't, I, along with another poster, was calling out the poster who called my post misogyny. And I asked for the thread not to become another misandry thread which often happens on mn.

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DewDew83 · 13/08/2021 03:01

but Brendan Fraser had a string of very successful films that he headlined, MD never had that.
Perhaps not, but she was still extremely famous. I thought that gallery of magazine covers was quite illustrative of that. I think you'd have to be pretty famous to be on the cover of Cosmo multiple times.

Bawse · 13/08/2021 03:04

I reckon the OP is Matt Damon

plodalong12 · 13/08/2021 03:04

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

OP says she is 35. Meaning she was about 11 when Good Will Hunting came out and 9 when Circle of Friend came out. 9 and 11 in a pre-social media world, at an age where kids care little for celeb culture, where the Minnie fans would've been late teens and 20's. Not surprised OP doesn't remember someone from her childhood as 'super famous'.
But that’s just about who you know and what you know them from, isn’t it? I’m the same age as OP and recognise Minnie Driver from. Several roles yet Andie McDowell, who was given as an example upthread of someone more famous than Minnie Driver, I wouldn’t recognise, apart from knowing she starred in 4 Weddings and a Funeral, but I’ve never seen that film whereas I’ve seen multiple things featuring Minnie Driver.
SequinsandStiIettos · 13/08/2021 03:09

I didn't say Andie was more famous, I said I also thought she was as famous as Minnie back in the day (a pp used her as an example of not being super famous). On a side note, how have you never seen Groundhog Day?!! Shock

Earlydancing · 13/08/2021 03:10

She was in a film with Jeremy Northam. I remember it because, well, Jeremy Norham was in it. I'm in my 60s so I do remember the 90s and the 80s. She was never super famous. Lol. I'd say B list. B+ at her height if I'm being generous. Wasn't her biggest claim to fame not naming the father of her son?

I thought she came across as a bit sharp in her interviews but not unlikeable. She's an OK actress. Didn't she try to become a musician? Good luck to her. Ageing in Hollywood must be hard.

gobackanddoitproperly · 13/08/2021 03:12

She may not have headlined movies, but she was famous! Very! For a short time, yes, but famous nonetheless. Good Will Hunting was a massive hit. Massive. She was a supporting actress, yes. But a nomination for BSA in a global movie hit = very famous.

DewDew83 · 13/08/2021 03:12

I didn't say Andie was more famous, I said I also thought she was as famous as Minnie back in the day (a pp used her as an example of not being super famous). On a side note, how have you never seen Groundhog Day?!!
I had to google her because her name didn't ring a bell. Groundhog Day is the only thing I've seen from her filmography, but I can't actually remember her.

gobackanddoitproperly · 13/08/2021 03:12

Earlydancing she was (is?) a musician before an actress I think..

JesusIsAnyNameFree · 13/08/2021 03:13

She was really famous for a while. Even I remember her, and I was a young child during her fame. YABU.

gobackanddoitproperly · 13/08/2021 03:14

I think I’d put Andie and Minnie in the same category too. Very famous, albeit for a short time.

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 13/08/2021 03:14

''I didn't say Andie was more famous, I said I also thought she was as famous as Minnie back in the day''

Andie headlined 2 of the biggest films of 93 and 94 so was more famous than MD in her peak.

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WhisperedWords · 13/08/2021 03:15

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop I disagree about Andi McDowell 😂- Sex Lies and Video Tapes, Green Card also spring to mind but as I think it is with Minnie Driver and the OP, there are lots of reasons rather than someone being right or wrong - maybe it’s a matter of a few years age gap or whether you watch independent leaning films vs studio blockbusters or ‘teen’ movies or ones aimed at a slightly older audience or take you cultural signifiers from US or UK culture.

Earlydancing · 13/08/2021 03:18

No comparison between Brendan Fraser and Minnie Driver. Lol. Fraser was easily as famous as Tom Hanks. He was a bankable actor who could open and carry a film on his name alone. He was in tons of very successful and profitable films.

By the way, I loved the fucking Matt Damon song. Emily Blunt said she filmed a scene with Matt Damon outside and she kissed him. And the onlookers all started singing, I'm fucking Matt Damon. Equally I liked Jimmy Kimmels response.

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 13/08/2021 03:20

''Good Will Hunting was a massive hit. Massive. She was a supporting actress, yes.
Yea it was a hit but ask any person on the street and they will recall Matt Damon or Robin Williams from it-not her.

''But a nomination for BSA in a global movie hit = very famous.''

Again no, Kate Winslet had a win many big awards before Titanic and got an Oscar nom for Sense and Sensibility yet nobody heard of her even though the film was a big hit because the bigger names like Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant got all the attention. When Titanic came, Kate Winslet was a new actress to most people.

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