How long was Minnie Driver engaged to Josh Brolin? Actress says marrying ex-fiancé would have been "the biggest mistake" of her life

Actress Minnie Driver revealed marrying Slow Burn co-star Josh Brolin would have been "the biggest mistake of her life." In a candid interview with The Sunday Times, published on July 7, 2024, the 54-year-old reflected on how her parent's relationship impacted her feelings on marriage, stating:

"If I look at my history, what it did was make me want to be married so much and then choose men who were so not the right men to be married to."

Driver explained that when she was twelve, she found out her parents were separated because her father, Ronnie Driver, had a secret wife and a second family. She continued:

So I would carry on longing to be married and to have that conservative version (of a relationship), find men who had no interest in that, and then if one did, run a mile."

The British-American actress met Josh Brolin on the sets of Slow Burn (2000) and soon began dating. They were engaged for five and a half months before calling it off in October 2001. Referencing her former fiance, she remarked:

"The one time I was engaged it would have been, I think, the biggest mistake of my life."

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"Everything I could have wanted in my childhood idea of a husband, he actually is" - Minnie Driver about her current partner, Addison O’Dea

Talking about her parents, the Good Will Hunting actress elaborated that they had never been married during their 16 years together. Her mother, Gaynor Churchward, in "a moment of rage," told her the shocking revelation, forever skewing her idea of a relationship.

Driver added that while what her mother did "was not good," she could "understand it." She remarked that it was part of growing up to empathize with our parents' faults because we make similar mistakes.

Brolin and Driver were engaged from April 2001 to October 2001. While announcing their split, a representative for the actress told ABC News:

"Minnie Driver and Josh Brolin have decided to cancel their wedding plans. Their decision is mutual and amicable."

Josh Brolin, 56, has since moved on and married Kathryn Boyd Brolin in 2016. On the other hand, Minnie Driver is currently in a relationship with filmmaker and writer, Addison O’Dea. While talking about her current partner, the 54-year-old actress, told The Sunday Times:

"But now I’m with someone who doesn’t want to get married but who is the most devoted, loving, extraordinary... everything I could have wanted in my childhood idea of a husband, he actually is..."

Minnie Driver was also previously linked with her Good Will Hunting (1997) co-star, Matt Damon. The pair began dating in 1997 and broke up just weeks before the 1998 Oscars. She briefly dated producer and writer, Timothy J. Lea, and they share a son born in September 2008.