Minnie Driver has been looking back on her life and thinking about what she would tell her younger self.
The Good Will Hunting actress appeared on the Wednesday, June 12 episode of the Today show where she spoke about a piece of advice that she would have given herself back when she started her acting career with the 1997 movie.
“Don’t date actors,” she said. “But I had the best time doing it. But I would tell her: ‘Honey, find a nice plumber. Find an electrician. Find someone who just wants to stay home and support you.’”
After playing love interests in the movie, Driver began dating fellow actor Matt Damon before he went on to claim he was “single” in a 1998 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“I was with Minnie for a while, but we’re not really romantically involved anymore. We’re just really good friends. I love her dearly,” he told Winfrey. “I care about her a lot. We care about each other a lot. It wasn’t meant to be and if it wasn’t meant to be then it’s not meant to be.”
Over the years, the actress has also been linked to other celebrities, including Harrison Ford, David Duchovny, Josh Brolin, John Cusak, and David Schwimmer.
During the episode, she was even shown a clip of her in the Good Will Hunting movie as she was singing alongside Damon. “Oh, bless her sweet heart. I love her so much,” she said of her younger self. “I wish she knew all of the stuff I know now.”
Despite the movie leading to a very public breakup, the actress explained that she had “only love” as she re-watched certain clips from the film. “It was the most extraordinary moment in my life,” she explained. “Nothing but love for all of those men — Robin [Williams], Ben [Affleck], Gus [Van Sant], Jean-Yves Escoffier, who was the amazing cinematographer, Elliott Smith, who wrote the songs, Danny Elfman, who wrote the score. It lives in me forever. Forever and ever.”
Although, she mentioned that she normally doesn’t rewatch any of her old projects. “I don’t rewatch anything. I really, really don’t,” she stated. “I’ll tell you what I do watch. I do watch Ella Enchanted with [the] little girls in my life. I find I’m so judgmental.”
Driver previously spoke about her breakup with Damon in March during an episode of the Jennifer Hudson Show. “From this vantage point, 2020 vision, much later in my life,” she said on the show, giving her 25-year-old self breakup advice. “I wish I could have told her: ‘Honey it’s cool, you can celebrate and life’s gonna be great and beautiful and hard and amazing. And you’re going to love again, it’ll be fine.’”
“So maybe, just us all relating to each other a bit more as humans,” she continued, mentioning how “public” heartbreak can get when you become famous. “And that we just have these similar experiences through different lenses. Perhaps we can treat each other all a bit more kindly.”
The actress also spoke about Damon in 2022 on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast. “We’re not friends, but I feel an enormous amount of love for him because we shared this inflection point, well it was an inflection point for me,” she said.
