Film: Fan facts

Minnie Driver, star of `Good Will Hunting'.

Out of condition Minnie: Driver is still wary about being cast as the romantic lead. "It's such a responsibility to look cute, because people know when you don't. They think: `They're trying to pass her off as the cute girl and she's looking like a bedraggled sack of potatoes.' "

An Englishwoman abroad: So convincing has Driver's accent been in her American roles that most Americans think she's one of their own. In fact, the 27-year-old (real first name, Amelia) is as Home Counties as they come, having attended the exclusive private school Bedales.

No need to fret: She spent the first few years after drama school gigging as a jazz singer and guitarist in various London clubs before breaking into what she called "the grand tradition of crappy TV".

Rally driver: A lean patch followed her appearance as "the other woman" in 1995's The Politician's Wife, before she picked herself up to land the role of Benny, the frumpy Irish heroine, in Pat O'Connor's film adaptation of Maeve Binchy's novel Circle of Friends. However, Driver was less than happy when she was required to gain two stone before she could take up her role opposite Chris O'Donnell.

Golden girl: Driver's appearance in Goldeneye not only gave her a chance to belt out a tune on film (she played a Russian country and western singer) but also fulfilled another ambition: dancing naked in a Bond film's opening credits, or as she put it: "doing all the wooh wooh dancing".