• 1976 Moved to England with her mother and older sister after her parents' divorce (date approximate)
• 1981 Sent to boarding school at age 10 (date approximate)
• 1991 Made stage debut two weeks after graduating from drama school (date approximate)
• 1994 Co-starred in "Maigret and the Nightclub Dancer," a BBC production seen in the US as "Maigret II", a "Mystery!" presentation on PBS
• 1995 Featured as country-western lounge singer in "GoldenEye"
• 1995 Gained 25 pounds to star in feature film debut, "Circle of Friends"
• 1996 Had featured role as the mistress to a member of Parliament in the British miniseries "The Politician's Wife" (aired in the USA on PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre")
• 1997 Co-starred in both "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "Good Will Hunting"; received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as an English medical student in the latter
• 1998 Producing debut with "At Sachem Farm"; also co-starred
• 1999 Provided the voice of Jane in the Disney animated film "Tarzan"
• 1999 Voiced the character of "Winona Ryder" in "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut"
• 2000 Had leading role of a single mother competing in a beauty pageant in "Beautiful"
• 2000 Starred opposite David Duchovny in "Return to Me", playing a woman who has received a heart transplant
• 2001 Made guest appearance as "Minnie Driver" on Showtime's "The Chris Isaak Show"; also sang
• 2001 Starred in the British comedy "High Heels and Lowlifes"
• 2003 Acted in the drama "Owning Mahowny"
• 2003 Guest starred as herself on an episode of the british sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous"
• 2003 Played Stan's Mistress, Lorraine, on the sitcom "Will and Grace"
• 2004 Cast in the big-screen version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "The Phantom of the Opera"
• 2004 Cast opposite Anne Hathaway in "Ella Enchanted"
• 2007 Cast as Dahlia Malloy in the FX series, "The Riches"
• Raised in Barbados
• Starred in her own BBC series, "My Good Friend"
• With sister Kate, formed the production company Two Drivers