Minnie Driver reveals what she would tell her 25-year-old self after Matt Damon split

Minnie Driver has opened up about the “heartbreak” of her public split from Good Will Hunting co-star Matt Damon.

Minnie Driver has opened up about her “heartbreak” after her public split with Matt Damon revealing what she would have told her younger self.

The pair dated after meeting on the set of the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, where they played characters who were lovers.

Driver, now 54, who famously looked downcast as she watched her ex accept an Oscar for their film in 1998, spoke out about her emotions in a raw interview on Thursday on The Jennifer Hudson Show.

Minnie Driver and Matt Damon in a romantic scene in Good Will Hunting.

She admitted she was “heartbroken” when Damon turned up to the ceremony with new girlfriend Winona Ryder after dumping her just weeks before.

“I wish I could’ve told her, ‘Honey, it’s cool, like, you can celebrate, and life’s gonna be great and beautiful and hard and amazing, and you’re gonna love again. It’ll be fine,’” Driver told Hudson.

“I wanna wrap my arms around that young woman and hug her and go, ‘It’s all gonna be fine honey, don’t worry,

Minnie Driver with Matt Damon.

Minnie Driver found out about her split with Matt Damon after his Oprah Winfrey interview. Picture: Getty Images

Driver made headlines in October when a video resurfaced showing her downcast expression as Damon and Ben Affleck received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting.

After a fan commented that Driver looked “so sad” at the ceremony, the actress leapt into the comments section to explain her appearance.

“Matt had ended our relationship a few weeks before this, and was at the Oscars with his new gf... I was devastated. Wish I could have celebrated more as it was an amazing moment for all of us, and for this wonderful film!,” Driver commented.

The star told Hudson that she commented on the viral resurfaced video because she had “never seen” her face and her reaction and was struck by the vulnerability of the clip.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon when they received the award.

“I think it’s like anyone who’s been heartbroken can understand, it’s like the last thing you want is everybody having a window in on that and it was so public,” Driver said.

“So, when I commented, it was just I saw the clip, I hadn’t seen the clip. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it. I’d never seen my face.”

“The reaction when they won and they cut to me because there was a camera right in the face of the poor young 25-year-old girl, who’s about to burst into tears.”

Their relationship survived from 1997 to 1998, with Damon declaring on the Oprah Winfrey Show that he and Driver were just friends and no longer dating.

Ben Affleck, left, and Matt Damon celebrate their Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Picture: AP

Matt Damon and Winona Ryder. Picture: AP

“I was with Minnie for a while, but we’re not really romantically involved anymore, we’re just really good friends. I love her dearly,” he told Winfrey at the time.

“I care about her a lot. We care about each other a lot. It wasn’t meant to be and if it wasn’t meant to be then it’s not meant to be.”

Damon later specified that Driver found out about their split from his televised conversation with Winfrey.

Driver also spoke out about Damon’s public declaration and told the Los Angeles Times in July 1997 that it was “fantastically inappropriate.”

“It’s unfortunate that Matt went on Oprah; it seemed like a good forum for him to announce to the world that we were no longer together, which I found fantastically inappropriate,” she told the outlet.

Since then, Damon kept fairly quiet about his love life until he tied the knot with Luciana Barroso in 2005. The couple share three daughters: Isabella, 17, Gia, 15, and Stella, 13.

Driver also moved on and has been dating filmmaker Addison O’Dea since September 2019.

Originally published as Minnie Driver reveals what she would tell her 25-year-old self after Matt Damon split