-Our next guest is an Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress
you know from films such as "Good Will Hunting"
and shows like "Will & Grace" and "Speechless."
Her new book, "Managing Expectations:
A Memoir in Essays," is on sale today.
Please welcome back to the show Minnie Driver, everybody!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back! -Oh, thank you.
-It's so lovely to have you here.
And this is maybe a little bit different press
than you are used to doing.
You're not promoting a TV show or a film.
You're promoting a book.
And is it true that for a promotional event
I believe yesterday... -Yes?
-...you were in a kayak? -Yes.
-Now, that is not something that I would have predicted.
-Well, I like kayaking.
[ Laughter ]
And it's not a normal thing that one does in New York.
-No.
You're the first I've met.
-You know what? We --
It was pouring with rain yesterday,
as you might have noticed.
-It was, yeah.
-I had the best time ever.
-Which were you -- Was it the Hudson?
Where were you kayaking? -Yeah, on the Hudson.
-Okay.
-And there was a guy in another kayak
who was taking my picture for this newspaper article.
And, you know, there was a flash because it was pitch black
because of the rain and the high seas.
And the Coast Guard came up to us and they were like,
"Are you alright?! We thought you was signaling!"
And it was due to, like, the flash of the photography.
-I can't believe you stuck with the kayak plan even in the rain.
-I caught a wave from the wake when the Coast Guard felt,
you know, that we were fine. -Yeah.
-And they pulled away, like, "Starsky & Hutch" style,
and there was, like, a massive wave from their wake.
And I literally, like -- I kayaked down the wave.
-Wow! This is very impressive.
I hope the photos will be as exciting
as you're making this sound.
-Well, it's a shame there's no video because
it's a little about the -- it's all about --
I don't know how to kayak. Whatever. It was really --
-Yeah, I like that it does seem like a nice time
because, like, this young woman here having the water wings.
Like, who would have ever guessed one day
she'd be kayaking down the Hudson River?
The rough waters of the Hudson.
-You totally would have known.
Like, they've retouched the color on this
because it was a slate-gray day.
It was probably 50 degrees, freezing cold.
That was at the beach in England,
which is not somewhere you ever want to go.
-I like that every photo of a beach in England
they have to color-correct. -100 percent.
Because if they didn't,
you'd be like, "Oh, my God! That just looks awful!"
Yeah. -So this is a book --
It's a memoir, but it's personal essays.
You sort of tell it essay-style.
And I imagine --
Obviously it's really personal.
Do the people in your lives -- Have they read it?
I mean, it seems very honest. -Yeah.
I mean, I wrote -- It's dedicated to --
It's dedicated to my mum, but also to my English teachers,
one of whom is this man called Alastair Langlands,
who features in the book.
And I sent it to him, and he liked it,
so I feel like we're good to go.
-That's great. Is there anything
that didn't make the cut that, looking back, you're like,
"Oh, that was a good story, that should have been in there"?
-Yeah, there's a really good story.
So, the book kind of got derailed.
Like, my mom died in the middle of me writing this book.
-Our condolences. -Thank you.
And I didn't think I could finish it,
so I had to shorten the book,
and the story that didn't make it in that
was one of my mother's favorites was when I made the movie
"Phantom of the Opera,"
I sang the title track to that movie,
and it got nominated for an Academy Award,
which was really exciting.
And I was in rehearsals to sing the song at the Academy Awards,
you know, like you do when your song has been nominated.
-Yeah. -And I got a call one day
from the producer, and they're like,
"Yeah, you're not singing the song anymore."
And I was like, "What do you mean, though?"
"Yeah, Beyoncé is singing your song."
And I was like, "Wait. What?"
"Beyoncé is singing all the songs."
And I was like, "I mean, look, mate, I know it's Beyoncé
and everything and she's like, Beyoncé,
but, like, that is my song!
Like, what's happening?!"
Anyway, I was so sad.
I felt so incredibly sad about this thing being taken away.
My best mate, Emma Forrest, was like,
"The best thing we can do is go on holiday,"
which was a terrible idea.
Anyway, we went on holiday to Costa Rica.
-That's a lovely place to go.
-Well, you'd think if you go to Costa Rica.
-Yeah. -So we were -- It was late.
We pulled our bags around to the little tiny place
where you take an internal flight.
They weigh you, they put you on a plane, they give you a tag.
20 minutes into the flight when we're meant to be landing
by the sea,
it's just jungle...
and it's more jungle for another hour.
And we land -- You ever had a Brazilian wax?
-Uh, no. -Yeah.
-Meaning to.
[ Laughter ]
-Let us know when you do.
If you can imagine the jungle
having had, like, a Brazilian wax,
just for, like, the runway...
-Okay. -That's where we landed.
But it's not in Costa Rica. It's in Panama.
-Now, at any point, did they say --
Like, did the captain make an announcement?
-No! -Okay.
-There's no -- It's in this tiny rickety plane.
-Did you, like, buy discount tickets?
-No. They just gave us -- They just gave us the wrong --
They give you, like, a color-coded thing to get --
-You got on the wrong plane? -We just got on the wrong plane
and we went to Panama, and they dropped us off.
And I was begging the guy to please let us get back
on the plane and go back to Costa Rica.
And he was like, "The plane's full."
Everybody else was getting on the plane.
We were literally in the middle of the jungle.
And I was like, "But when are you coming back?!"
And he was like, "I'll be back in a week."
And I was like, "No, no, wait!
Oh, don't leave us!" And they left us.
And it's like a terrible film
of me and my friend with our wheelie bags
and our, like, wedgie heels ready for Costa Rica
in the middle of the jungle down a dirt track.
And I'm like, "We're definitely gonna die!"
And my best friend was like, "Yes, we are!"
-It's just funny to think of you
at a, like, tiny airport in the jungle being like,
"I was supposed to sing at the Oscars!"
-I was -- scream -- Like, screaming to the monkeys,
"I was supposed to sing in the Oscars!"
-And they're saying like, "That lady keeps telling us
she got replaced by Beyoncé.
She's -- There's a very strange --
There's a very strange woman out on the Brazilian wax runway."
-"She's crazy. Take her to Panama and leave her there!"
-So, your son is 12.
Is he curious as a 12-year-old,
curious when his mother writes a memoir?
-I mean, he really -- He is so not interested
in anything I d--
I mean, he's so lovely. I did rope him into --
I have a podcast called "Minnie Questions,"
and I ask the same seven questions to everybody.
And for this Mother's Day coming,
I asked Henry if he would interview me.
And he was so nice about it,
and he was like, "Yeah, no, I will."
And I was like, "And you know..."
He really does have a deep voice
and he sounds like he's a bookie.
And I was like, "So will you -- You know that when you ask
the questions, like, ask me the questions,
but then perhaps there should be, like, follow-up questions."
He's like, "No, I got it. I got it. I listen. It's okay."
So it's like, "So, Mom, so, what would your last meal be?"
And I, like, go through the last meal and I'm like,
"You know, and then I'd have ice cream."
"To follow up...
what flavor ice cream would you have
and would you also add sprinkles?"
And I was like, "Well..." And he just did it.
He did such a good job. Like, he really --
-I would be so proud. That is absolutely excellent.
-Ridiculously proud.
He's such -- He's an interested,
kind person who gets roped
into all kinds of things that I ask him to do.
And he could say no, but he doesn't.
-Curiosity from a kid is the best thing in the world.
When kids are genuinely curious, it's the best.
-I agree with you, and it means that there is
some level of relevancy that you have as their parent...
-Yeah. -...left.
-Do you feel like you're holding on for dear life?
-Hanging by a thread.
-Well, at least you got that one last podcast in.
[ Laughter ] -We'll always have that.
-You'll always -- You can listen to it
when you're like, "Well, he hasn't called.
I'll listen to that ice-cream follow-up."
-"He loved me once! He did!" -Hey, thanks for being here.
Congratulations on the book. You guys, Minnie Driver!
"Managing Expectations"
is on sale now wherever you buy your books,
but please support local and independent bookstores.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night."