Minnie Driver says marrying ex-fiancé Josh Brolin would have been ‘the biggest mistake’ of her life… 23 years after their split

Minnie Driver opened up about her past relationship on Saturday.

The 54-year-old British actress — who recently opened up about sexism in Hollywood — explained that she dodged a bullet by not marrying her ex-fiancé Josh Brolin, 56. 

She told The Sunday Times, ‘This one time I was engaged, it would have been, I think, the biggest mistake of my life.’

The pair was betrothed back in 2001, but the nuptials were called off just five months later.

Driver explained that her own parents rocky relationship has reflected in her on. The Ella Enchanted star said her parents never married due to her father’s infidelity.

The pair was betrothed back in 2001, but the nuptials were called off just five months later; Josh and Minnie seen in 2001

‘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,’ the Circle of Friends actress said.

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 she went on. 

‘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,’ she finished. 

The British actress is dating her longtime love, American director Addison O’Dea, 45, who she was first linked to in 2019.

She shares son Henry, 15, with television writer and producer ex Timothy J. Lea, 64. She and the filmmaker met at a Los Angeles party and immediately hit it off.

Driver also romanced actor Matt Damon after they met while filming the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.

Last month, The Beekeeper star opened up about her dating habits and advice she wishes she could’ve given her younger self. 

‘Don’t date actors, but I had the best time doing it’ Minnie said bluntly on the Today Show. ‘I wish she knew all the stuff I know now.’

She told The Sunday Times, ‘This one time I was engaged, it would have been, I think, the biggest mistake of my life’; Minnie and Josh seen in 1999

‘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,’ the Circle of Friends actress said; Josh and Minnie seen in 2001

The British actress is dating her longtime love, American director Addison O’Dea, 45, who she was first linked to in 2019; seen in 2024

‘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,’ she said of him; seen in 2023

‘I would tell her, “Honey find a nice plumber, find an electrician, find someone who just wants to stay home and support you,”‘ she said.

Minnie went on to explain that while looking back she is grateful for the experiences with the men she has worked with on set as an actress.

‘I have only love, like it was the most extraordinary moment in my life,’ she said to the outlet, ‘nothing but love for all those men.’