Thanks to Becca for the heads up! I’m excited to see Minnie on a new show!

Minnie Driver is returning to series TV with a lead role in the CBS drama pilot Hail Mary.

The onetime matriarch of FX’s The Riches will play a suburban mom-turned-private eye who teams up with a streetwise hustler to solve crimes.

The L Word co-creator Ilene Chaiken recently came on board as exec producer and showrunner.

Driver — who snagged an Oscar nomination for Good Will Hunting — guest-starrd on Modern Family last season as a former colleague of Julie Bowen’s Claire.

Source – TVline.com

Amanda Peet has been locked in for the lead in the NBC pilot Bent. Peet will play a Type A divorced mom who tries not to fall for the “surfer-dude” contractor she hires to redo her kitchen.

The single camera comedy is from writer/executive producer Tad Quill of Scrubs fame and is part of Quill’s overall deal with UMS. It also brings Peet back into the NBC fold, where she starred in Aaron Sorkin’s Saturday Night Live-esque Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Meanwhile, sources say Minnie Driver is close to signing on to the NBC pilot, Free Agents. It is an adaptation of a British series about co-workers at a Hollywood talent agency – one getting over a divorce and the other a broken engagement. It’s from Party Down’s John Enbom.

Driver has not been a TV regular since co-starring with Eddie Izzard in FX’s critically hailed but low-rated The Riches, which ended in 2008.

Source – Hollywoodreporter.com

Like any new mum, Minnie Driver says that it has been a struggle to return to work, but getting back to her day job brings its own particular challenges. “I made one film, Motherhood, when I was heavily pregnant and then two more afterwards. My entire pregnancy and two years post-birth will be on the big screen,” the actress says. “Flabby stomach and giant boobs for all to see.”

It has to be said that it came as a surprise when Driver announced on Jay Leno’s chat show in March 2008 that she was pregnant — no one had known that she was even dating. Having been stung by several messy public break-ups, including John Cusack and Matt Damon, she has learnt to keep her love life strictly under wraps. To this day, she has not revealed who is the father of her 17-month-old son, Henry. All she will say is “he’s English and in the same sort of business, and he lives in California. Everybody is cool with the situation.” Throughout the interview she refers to him as her “partner”, often with the prefix “great”, but from what she says she hasn’t actually seen him since November.

It would be understandable if her views on relationships, fidelity and marriage had been coloured by the fact that her mother, Gaynor, was her father Ronnie’s other woman. But that didn’t stop the actress’s overwhelming desire to be a mother, and, despite a rocky first trimester, her pregnancy went smoothly.

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Surfing and yoga are so much more than forms of exercise, they are a religion, according to actress Minnie Driver.

Driver, who has appeared in films including Good Will Hunting and TV series such as Revisioned: Tomb Raider and Will and Grace, told website monstersandcritics.com that she cannot get by without riding the waves or practicing the Indian meditative poses.

“My church is surfing and yoga. If I can get in a surf or practice yoga then I will.

“Yoga’s great for when you’ve got a full brain and can’t stop the mind chatter,” the 40-year-old said.

Earlier this month, Marissa Campise, winner of Huffington Post Living’s Total Energy Makeover, suggested in a piece for the newspaper that, to ensure she thinks clearly, she too dons her ladies yoga clothing and practices her favourite yoga poses.

She said that the form of meditation helps to de-clutter her mind and improve her mental clarity.

Source.

#87. Barney’s Version

Director: Richard J. Lewis
Writer(s): Michael Konyves
Producers: Robert Lantos
Distributor: Rights Available.

The Gist: Based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, this tells the story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Giamatti)…(more)

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Dustin Hoffman, Rachelle Lefevre, Bruce Greenwood, Minnie Driver, and Scott Speedman.

Why is it on the list?: If the film somehow retains the complex nature (narrator) of the novel, then I think we’ll understand why this project which has been in the works for more than a decade (see news report here). A great ensemble lead by Paul Giamatti and cameos from David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan should make this a savory blend.

Release Date/Status?: This Canadian production should be TIFF’s 2010 opening film. U.S purchase a done deal with names like Giamatti and Hoffman on board.

Source.

HOLLYWOOD star Minnie Driver stunned parents at a Scots play centre yesterday after turning up with her toddler son.

Minnie, 39, spent an hour at the Whale of a Time activity centre on the south side of Glasgow with 16-month-old Henry.

Surprised parents looked on as Minnie – Oscar-nominated for her role in Good Will Hunting in 1997 – enjoyed a coffee while her son played.

She is in Scotland filming BBC thriller The Deep with Murphy’s Law actor James Nesbitt and ER hunk Goran Visnjic.

Mark Bishop, managing director of Whale of a Time, admitted he had no idea who she was at first and was stunned when other parents told him about his famous visitor.

He said: “I didn’t really know what to say to her. I’m not sure how she heard about our centre but we are really glad to have her visit.

“She was in last weekend too. It was lovely to see her and I hope she comes back.”

A parent who chatted with the actress said: “She seemed very nice.

“She said she’s enjoying being in Glasgow and everyone is extremely friendly and welcoming.”

Minnie has been filming The Deep, a thriller set in a submarine thousands of feet below the Arctic ice.

The five-part series is scheduled for transmission later this year.

Earlier this month, the Sunday Mail revealed how Minnie stunned colleagues on the set by insisting filming had to go on despite the death of her father.

Her dad Ronnie, 87, died after suffering a heart attack shortly before Christmas.

BRAVE Minnie Driver stunned colleagues on the set of her new TV show by insisting filming had to go on despite the death of her father.

Former Oscar nominee Minnie’s 87-year-old dad, Ronnie, died after suffering a heart attack in the lead-up to Christmas.

But the 39-year-old actress hid her heartache from co-stars and crew during the filming of BBC thriller The Deep in Dumbarton.

Minnie worked for two days after her father’s death. It was only after a crew member asked after his health that she revealed her heartbreak.

A BBC insider said: “Most of the filming revolves around Minnie and when she had to rush off to be at her father’s bedside after his heart attack, it was feared everything would have to stop.

“But she was back on the Monday. Nothing was said until someone asked how her father was keeping. She broke down and said he’d just died.

“Everyone felt so sorry for her and she was clearly very distressed.

“It was a difficult time for her but her professionalism shone through.”

Minnie, who wore a red dress at her father’s funeral, broke down in tears as she read the eulogy during the service.

She told mourners: “I’m not being respectful. I’m wearing red because my father used to tell me that I was the kind of girl who would wear a red dress at a funeral so I wouldn’t want to disappoint you, dad.”

Hollywood actress Minnie Driver wore a red dress to her father’s funeral as she did not want to disappoint him.The Good Will Hunting star’s father, Ronnie, breathed his last at the age of 87 in London on December 14 after suffering a heart attack, Daily Express reported.

The star turned out with her family on Wednesday for the London funeral wearing a bright red dress and broke down in tears as she read the eulogy during the service.

“I am not being disrespectful. I am wearing red because my father always used to tell me that I was the kind of girl who would a wear a red dress to a funeral. So I wouldn’t want to disappoint you, Dad.”

The 39-year-old actress, who has been filming a movie in Scotland, put the production on hold to fly to London when her father fell ill.

Ronnie is survived by the actress and her elder sister, Kate, and their mother, Gaynor Millington, as well as his widow Misty, and two more children.

R.I.P Ronnie Driver – my thoughts are with Minnie and her family.

Minnie Driver has lost her father to a massive heart attack at age 87.

Ronnie Driver, an enigmatic character was described in a Daily Mail obituary-styled column this way: ‘[He was] the Swansea boy from a terrace house whose charm and entrepreneurial skills led him to become a major figure in the financial markets, dispensing advice to the Queen and Queen Mother and giving a job on his board to Prince Michael of Kent.’

Driver, who has been at work on The Deep with fellow UK actor, James Nesbitt, broke off filming the BBC drama in Scotland to fly to his side.

Minnie and her older sister Kate, who were the daughters of his mistress and kept secret from Driver’s wife for many years, were able to say their last good byes, the newspaper reported.

A friend said of the former insurance mogul who lost his fortune in the 1990s: ‘He was one of those rare people of whom you can truly say, ‘They don’t make them like that any more.’ He was one of the most charismatic, generous and charitable people you could meet.’

Driver was a friend of Sir Michael Caine and the Duchess of York. His funeral is expected to reflect his well-connectedness in its guests and is set to take place at St Paul’s, Knightsbridge.

Minnie Driver and James Nesbitt have been cast in BBC One’s The Deep, it is announced.

The five-part thriller, which is written by Simon Donald, follows the crew of an oceanographic submarine as they search the final frontiers of Earth for unknown and remarkable life forms.

Set thousands of feet below the Arctic ice, the drama unfolds when the crew find themselves stranded with no power, limited oxygen and no communication with the surface.

Controller of BBC drama commissioning Ben Stephenson commented: “Simon Donald’s brilliantly imagined serial The Deep demonstrates my commitment to bringing the best work by the best writers to BBC One and the international talent signed up are further testament to the quality of the scripts.”