UNITED KINGDOM :MINNIE DRIVER IS BACK IN BRITAIN TO STAR IN THE PERIOD ROMANCE "THE GOVERNESS"

Record ID: 336668

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM :MINNIE DRIVER IS BACK IN BRITAIN TO STAR IN THE PERIOD ROMANCE "THE GOVERNESS"
  • Date: 22nd September 1996
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 11, 1997) (RTV) ON SET OF THE MAKING OF FILM "THE GOVERNESS" WITH MAIN CHARACTERS ENTERING BUILDING PAST TECHNICIANS ACTRESS MINNIE DRIVER SAYING, "MY CAREER JUST SEEMED TO BE SO TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK. I COULDN'T BUILD, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS. I WASN'T HAVING THE SUCCESS THAT I WANTED AND I FREELY ADMIT I WAS V
  • Embargoed: 7th October 1996 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVACTGGET5NTVSKM16D9H1552K05
  • Story Text: Minnie Driver, the British actress who can do no wrong in Hollywood, is back in Britain for the first time in three years to star in the period romance "The Governess".

    She plays a lovestruck Jewish girl who is forced to pass herself off as a gentile when she takes a job as a governess on a remote Scottish island in the 1840s.

    After winning the hearts of Brad Pitt and Jason Patric in "Sleepers," Driver was lauded for her performance as John Cusack's love interest in the independent hit "Grosse Pointe Blank." The 26-year-old Barbados-born actress, raised in Hampshire, England, attributes her success in Hollywood to her chameleon-like ability to "become" American.

    Her mid-Manhattan accent tricked "Sleepers" director Barry Levinson into offering her the female lead - despite studio support for Sandra Bullock.

    Now Driver is back on home ground, shooting "The Governess" in Scotland and at Hampton Court, the London home of Henry VIII.

    The drama, the directorial debut of Sandra Goldbacher, took 2 years to develop from first draft to film set.

    Driver stars as Rosina, a young Jewish woman who is forced to seek employment outside her sheltered community following the murder of her father. Taking a job as governess with a family on the remote Isle of Skye, whe is drawn into a passionate affair with her employer, which threatens to destroy both their lives.

    Tom Wilkinson plays the love interest, Charles Cavendish, with Harriet Walker in the role of Mrs Cavendish. Rosina's petulant charge, Clementina, is played by 12-year-old Florence Hoath.

    Director Goldbacher says the film is completely dependent on Driver. She has to carry almost every scene, playing a different role with each supporting character - from shy teacher to passionate lover.

    Driver cheerfully admits ambition drove her to Hollywood.

    "I wasn't having the success that I wanted, and freely admit I was very ambitious and America was offering that, at least the opportunity," she said.

    Despite its small budget (between 3 and 4 million dollars) "The Governess" has been pre-sold to Sony Pictures for release in the US, Australian, Spanish and Latin American markets early next year.
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