Minnie Driver wishes she could have comforted her younger self when she was heartbroken over her and Matt Damon’s break-up.
Minnie Driver wishes she could have comforted her younger self when she was heartbroken over her and Matt Damon’s break-up
The actress, 54, dated Matt, 53, from 1997 to 1998 after they played love interests in ‘Good Will Hunting’ but their romance came to a halt when the actor announced he was single during an appearance on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ – and Minnie was famously seen looking heartbroken in the audience when Matt won an Oscar for his titular role in the film just after their split.
Minnie told the ‘Jennifer Hudson Show’ about wishing she could have gone back and spoken to her younger self on the night of the awards: “I wish I could’ve told her, ‘Honey, it’s cool, like, you can celebrate, and life’s gonna be great and beautiful and hard and amazing, and you’re gonna love again. It’ll be fine.’
“I wanna wrap my arms around that young woman and hug her and go, ‘It’s all gonna be fine honey, don’t worry.”
Minnie recently made headlines when she admitted she was “devastated” seeing Ben Affleck, 51, and Matt – who had already moved on by that stage and was dating Winona Ryder, now 52 – win their Oscar for best original screenplay for their joint movie ‘Good Will Hunting’.
She said she and Matt had “recently broken up” at the time and she was still “totally heartbroken” and “terrified” at the time of the 1998 Oscars.
Minnie added: “I think it’s like anyone who’s been heartbroken can understand it’s like the last thing you want is everybody having a window in on that, and it was so public.”
She commented on a video that had resurfaced from 1998’s Oscars earlier this year as she claimed never to have seen the clip.
Minnie went on to Jennifer: “When (Ben and Matt) won, and they cut to me, because there was a camera right in the face of the poor young 25 year-old girl who’s about to burst into tears, and it was so raw and vulnerable, that I commented.”
The actress said online in December about her reaction to the footage: “Matt had ended our relationship a few weeks before this, and was at the Oscars with his new gf… I was devastated. Wish I could have celebrated more as it was an amazing moment for all of us, and for this wonderful film! (Red heart emoji.):
Matt married his wife Luciana Barroso, 47, in 2005, and they have daughters Isabella, 17, Gia, 15, and 13-year-old Stella.
Minnie also moved on and has been dating filmmaker Addison O’Dea, 44, since September 2019.
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