Minnie Driver

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1:05Hello and welcome to Table Runners. I'm Jessie Ware and I am here in Clapham. Looking relaxed. I am relaxed, Lenny. We've had much feedback on our wine tasting. Oh, yeah. Can I just say that Matt was really delightful. Poor sweet Matt. And I don't think those little clips do him justice because he was the sweetest, nicest man. So you really need to listen to the episode because he's so knowledgeable and so nice. and so tolerant. I can't really remember anything he said, but he was brilliant, and I love Cornell Wine Company. Me too. And just if you are going to be in California, it's such a spot.

1:44Now, speaking of another California gal, we have Minnie Driver on today. I wanted to talk about something first. Oh, sorry. I think I've got podcast neck. What do you mean? I've got a pain in that side of my neck, and someone said, do you twist your neck a lot to the right? And of course I do, when we're doing the podcast, So I always sit in one place and I'm looking like that. Mum, podcast neck. I hate to break it to you. It's like twice a week and for two hours. Podcast neck. So why don't you swivel today? I'm going to swivel. No, with your swivel chair. I've been recommended a wobble cushion.

2:19What's a wobble cushion? You sit on it and it keeps your back from being quite mobile. It helps your back be mobile. Mrs. Wobble the waitress. Mrs. Wobble the waitress. I guess I can't really do anything about that really. unless we were in a round table like the traitors. Yeah. Sorry. It doesn't matter. I'll cope. So we have a Brit that does live in California, I believe. She's now American. Oh, she's American. She gave up nationality, British nationality. Oh, interesting. Took on American. We shall ask her all about it. We've got Minnie Driver joining us for a spot of brunch. You've been on cooking duty, Mum.

2:53Yeah. So Minnie Driver has her own podcast called Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver. She gets massive names. she's going to be in a TV show called Serpent Queen she's playing Queen Elizabeth I'm really looking forward to having Minnie Driver on loved her in Starstruck which we love, we've had both Rose and Nikesh on but she played the RC agent of Tom the character in it and she was so good in it yeah, I miss that I miss that too, maybe it's coming back no it won't maybe she can tell us Rose said, I bumped into Rose at the theatre did you? and I said, Rose, she said I know what you're going to say Lenny not happy about the ending and I said, is it coming back?

3:31Oh! She kind of didn't commit, but I didn't feel she was. What's on the menu, Mum? So, it's brunch. Yeah, my fave. Luckily, we didn't get the memo that she is a vegetarian. We just were told she doesn't eat red meat. Oh, she's a veggie? She's a veggie. Luckily, I've cooked... Don't put any parmesan in there today. Luckily, I've cooked a veggie meal. That's very unusual for you. It is very unusual. Sarah Pascoe's rubbed off well on you. So I did, well, asparagus is here at the minute. So I've made an asparagus frittata. Delish. I've made, I had lots of Greek yoghurt. So I made labna. Look who's sustainable, Sue.

4:09Labna. You've been straining with a muslin? Yeah, last night. And I didn't have any zata. So I looked it up and I've made it. I've done a kind of deconstructed peperinata. So it's kind of roasted peppers with roasted tomatoes. Celebrity MasterChef. Here we come. Well, I've been watching a lot of it. So I put some capers on and I was going to put anchovies on. But she won't. Well, I won't. I'd love a bit of anchovy on there. Me too. I'll ask her if she wants to have anchovy on. If she does, then I can put anchovy on. And then I've done, I know you wanted me to make aioli, but it is 11 in the morning.

4:49And I don't know about, if she's got other people to see today, raw garlic might not be the thing. Fair enough. So I've made a Dijon mayonnaise dressing and I'll see if she likes Parmesan. I'll put Parmesan on little gem lettuces. So I've got, that's it. And then. That's loads. I made an almond cake. Jesus. Which is, looks delicious. And I'm going to give you a secret. When I took it out, it split in half. So I shoved it back together again. So it looks all in one piece. I was trying to get the paper off the bottom. Yeah. And it split. Just like, because it's quite a gooey, it looks a bit like it's going to taste a bit like, you know, the inside of an almond croissant, which is my favourite.

5:35Yeah. Like quite gooey. So when I picked it up to try and it kind of split, I shoved it back together and it's going to have icing sugar on and it'll be fine. And I've got some cream to go with that. Oh, and Alice, because it's Passover, I didn't have any bread in the house. So lovely Alice brought some bread. My ore fiver. Mini Driver coming up on Tape on this.

6:10Mini Driver. Hello. Hello. Welcome. You look fantastic. Yeah. Really gorgeous. Thank you. I'm old. No. You're not old. Why do you look younger than me? This is really like, you need to tell me what you're doing because you look fabulous. Thank you. You have come in with Lily of the Valley, which smells delish. You said it means something. Yeah, I didn't know. I didn't Google it. We've got to Google it. I thought lilies meant death. No, not those of the big white lilies. The big white ones. Not Lily of the Valley. Can someone Google what Lily of the Valley means? Lily of the Valley, me, yeah, it means something.

6:44It's something nice. And I think, I feel like they were the original flower that you held when you got married. like the beginning and I think there's fertility and there's something in it but maybe we'll Google it what are you trying to say I mean I'm done with kids and Lenny I think you're done with kids but you could marry Minnie no but there's always like you know we could be fertile in other areas creatively fertile symbol of purity joy love sincerity oh god good luck you come to the wrong house there we go that's why I brought it I brought it as an encouragement it's like saging yeah mum are you pure are you joyful are you that's me darling are you happy perfect description yeah um how are you minnie i'm all right i am all i am all right actually yeah i'm in a weird um in between work period which i'm now learning to really enjoy as opposed to feel this huge pressure and threat that i'm not working which i realize just the engine of my whole life is around work so i'm now waking up every day going brilliant I have nothing to do what am I going to what am I going to do so what have you been doing is like new hobbies that have been taken up or not even that are you just watching telly in bed actually no I if I did that and it was the daytime I I wouldn't I would feel sad ah I because I've lived in Los Angeles for like 27 years I so you get up at six and have your dinner at five Exactly.

8:17I walk everywhere in London. I walk or I cycle everywhere. Because you can't do that in LA. And I've had a whole lifetime of not doing that. And that is absolutely amazing. And I often do what my mum did, which she did during COVID, where she just had a big map and she would look for where green spaces were. And then she would either put her bike in her car and take it to the green space or she'd cycle there because she was in her 80s during COVID. but I now do that. I look for green spaces that I haven't cycled before and I go there. Do you look for green spaces that have good little cafes and coffee shops that are not that vast?

8:56Do you know what? I sort of trust in London that I'll find that. Like you just do. You come across bakeries and coffee shops and places. You sound like you're on holiday. I like it. I think that's the way of looking at being in between work. Why are you here exactly? I know it's a really good question why do you mean that like in the largest sense because I could go down that road well you live in you live in LA that's your home I live between here okay I live between the Pacific Ocean and London I've got to tell you Los Angeles is just a suburb of the Pacific that is how I've always seen it I live by the sea in what a lot of people would consider a sort of holiday caravan but it's my I live right on the beach where I surf and live and that's how I've stayed yeah we've just been there have you yeah we were just we came back two weeks ago it's my favorite place it's heaven it's heaven if I was a wealthy woman I'd buy one of those houses well by the way you have to be like more wealthy than like it's like ridiculous now i bought my place 22 years ago when it wasn't as popular well i also live in a mobile home like it's not it's not a i don't live in so how far are you near real in or near the country mart i'm basically keep going north i'm like in north malibu so you go past the little malibu seafood which is on your right you go past the 76 station you go to a place called point doom and that's where I live.

10:27I heard Point Doom's got a good food spot. Yeah, it's got a good burrito. Yes, Lily's. Lily's. Lily's is the best burrito. In fact, an actress who shall remain nameless, uh, drove her car into Lily's, managed not to kill anybody, but Lily's was shut for the longest time and we, it was, it was really, really, really terrible. It was really good that no one got hurt. And, yeah, she ruined the local burrito joint for a really long time. Shit. Yeah. So lucky no one was her. Do you like burritos? Yeah, I love them because I surf. And when you've surfed, when you've been in the water for like four hours, what you want is something, you are so hungry when you get out.

11:08And what you want is something big, immediate and delicious. And that is a burrito and a really well-made burrito. I still need to talk about the mobile home bit. Yeah. Well, that was all I could afford in Malibu. Okay. So 2020, this is my 23rd year there. there's all i couldn't afford one of the 60 million dollar then now they're 120 million dollar the the houses there in malibu and i used to surf i lived in hollywood and i used to get up really early drive out to malibu surf and then it's very it's it's very different now the little country mart it used to be what they would call mom and pop stores and restaurants and now it's yeah properly sort of for the for expensive shops for tourists which even the tourists don't want to buy long van out in malibu it's absurd but anyway i went into this coffee shop and there was a girl working there and i was saying she was like where do you live i was like i live in hollywood so you surf i was like yeah i was like how does anyone how does anyone like afford to live out here like if i could like i could i could afford something little but you can't even do that here and she said oh my parents live in this my well home park it's amazing do you want me to call my dad and I was like yeah go on and like her dad came down and we went back and I'll never forget driving in it was like the community that I'd grown up with where there were kids on bikes and skateboards in the street there were older people there were people chatting doors were open it was like the complete apotheosis of Hollywood and Los Angeles and I went and I immediately knew like I have to live here I have to find a way I have to find a way and then I went to the bluff which is where everybody sort of meets and drinks their coffee to check the waves in the morning and it was just these this perfect right hand break and then there were breaks all the way as far as I could see.

13:04I just knew I had to do anything I could to live there. And I obviously, no one has second homes there. So you go there, you visit there, and then you live in Hollywood? I used to, and then I sold my house in Hollywood during COVID so that we could move here and get a place. And now that place is our home in Malibu. So does your son go to school in Malibu? He goes to school in England now. Okay. So when we moved here, we meant to do it for a term, like September to Christmas. And then let's see if the schools open back in California again. And they didn't. So we were like, okay, well, let's finish out the school year.

13:44And then my mother died very unexpectedly in that time. I know it was awful. It wasn't COVID, actually. It was completely unrelated, very sudden, in retrospect, exactly how she would have liked to go. she was she she wrote she she rode her bike to to chelsea westminster you know to the emergency room and she was gone 10 days later but that that was right for my mum who was the most uh adventurous engaged um fantastically spirited person um but our whole life changed when she died and we I took Henry down to the school that I'd gone to where my mum had also gone we went to plant her a tree uh in in memoriam and I Henry just took one look at this school and like you know there's like there's a soundboard and you can book time in the studio there's a full like recording studio and like this incredible library and this beautiful theater and it's all built around this apple orchard with kids sitting out chatting in between lessons and it was it's It's called B-Dales.

14:54Oh, B-Dales, of course. And then Henwin, he was like, could you afford to send me here? And I was like, you know, yeah, we'll see how it goes for sure. If you want to. I was like, I can't believe you want to go to a boarding school. You really want to go to a boarding school. This is my kid who doesn't even really like sleepovers. And he loves it. And he does. But B-Dales is quite special. It's a special, special place. And it's not, it's so funny. There are people who kind of curl their lip up when, or look blankly and are like, oh yeah, B-Dales, when I say that he goes there or I go there. And then there are people who smile and go, oh, that's a, that's an interesting environment or, but it's, it's a, it is, it's a special, it's a special place.

15:45It's very independent thinking and, you know. So then you spend holidays in... So now I go back, because I go back whenever I just can't bear the grey. November is really brutal. It is brutal. I don't... I think January and February kills you. It is. It's very, very, very hard. And it's not for the faint of heart. I'm not built that way. I don't think I ever was. Who got you into surfing? It was a function of that I've always been in the water my whole life. And I, you know, I'd done it a bit when I was a kid, but then really in my late 20s, my early 30s, I think when I was 30. So it started quite late, but I'd already been up on a surfboard, but I started properly surfing when I was like 29, 30.

16:40And it was how I managed to stay. That was also like coincided with being really, really famous. and realising how impossible that is for a human to maintain their humanity and be famous. And I didn't know how you did that. Was that post-Good Will Hunting? Yeah, and it was post that and vicious press and vicious kind of cycle of this idea that you should be grateful. You should be grateful, you should be grateful, and yet you're sort of dying inside a bit, and yet everyone's telling you how ungrateful you are and that you should get your shit together. But you... Ungrateful for what? For feeling...

17:26For not wanting... For not knowing how to deal with the attention and for not understanding how to navigate, whether it's standing up for yourself on a set or standing up for yourself in the face. Like, there was just... There was no recourse. There was no accountability. And you weren't allowed to say, I'm finding this really difficult. Is that the same in the States as it is here? Yeah, I think it's a little... Because here, I think, they are very critical of people who become famous. And who don't like it. We like to take people down. Yeah, definitely. People who do well. We somehow don't really want people to do well.

18:01I think also because I went to the States. Yeah. I think that was also seen as how dare you leave. You jumped up and they wanted me to get a nose job and have had a boob job. And I didn't. So then it had to be, well, you've got to be some sort of shallow imbecile to want to go and be in Los Angeles. And Los Angeles is actually just, it's a lovely place that is a one-horse town. Like, it is an industry town. Like, it is about that. But it's not fake. In actual fact, it's extraordinarily sort of clear about what it is. And it's not for everyone. But I always found there was something very honest about LA.

18:44I love LA. It doesn't pretend to be anything else. The people maybe do. But LA is a place, yeah. LA itself and California itself. The wonder of the mountains and the ocean. It's gorgeous. I love it. Can I ask you about your dinner table when you were younger? Who was sitting around it? And what was a really memorable dish that you were eating? well we it was it was funny because when my parents split up it was a very two very very different households my mum by absolutely her choice she wouldn't take a penny from my dad and so she we really had no money living with mum and then my dad who was by himself um was very wealthy so it was a strange there were two very different tables and the table with my dad was in restaurants where which became extremely familial because we'd always go to the same place and then with mum it was the food that she grew in the garden and what was at the butchers and what was at the farm so there it was very very delicious so in with mum in Hampshire and then my dad was in Barbados or in London oh wow yeah yeah it was quite it was quite uh different is that where you got your love of the water from Barbados?

20:07also from my mum and that was in like the sea at West Wittering so any water I don't mind if it's cold or warm it's an east and a west because they call them the Witterings don't they so we were in West Wittering and there is an east and I think West Wittering is quite fancy now I think with the whole the Wittering is quite but then it was grey sand and you have to walk for about a quarter of a mile to actually get to the beginning of the water when tides out and freezing and lovely and she mum cooked like mum cooked everything and it was very fun pulling up vegetables that she would then cook I always remember there was never quite enough food she cooked delicious food but she was you know if there were two little tiny lamb chops because that's when I still ate meat.

21:03It was never quite enough, but it was delicious, which is probably where I get my, I have quite a big appetite. Where was your memorable restaurants your dad used to take to? So my dad used to take us to a place called the Mirabel, which was on Curzon Street in Mayfair. I think I remember it. Oh my God. It was. It was fancy. It was very fancy. But what was so funny was my dad, because he would only go to the same places, they became like a diner for him. and I don't mean that to sound just quite expensive yes it was but I think what was your order oh my sorry no no he was he was he was by himself and I think they offered like he knew all the waiters by and he knew their wives he knew the busboys he knew the maitre d he knew the barman they were all his friends and I think he would go and sit in there and he would make lunch last through the afternoon and into dinner so as not to be by himself so they it was there was this very familiar and it was funny you know we there weren't little children at the mirabeau it was fancy people eating their lunch and they made us they made us you know they made they would make like a a chicken milanese with like a pomodoro sauce and then they'd make these big steak chips that they'd stack up like Jenga which we would then play Jenga with which was really fun with my sister and then creamed spinach you know it was very kind of in a way which is basically a chicken nugget with cream with chips and creamed spinach like it is it was traditional Italian food yeah yeah it was delicious but I think I can't remember if the if I'd actually have no idea what kind of food they served because that was what we always ate and I never went there as an adult it was only as a little child are you hungry yeah I'm hungry okay do you want me to get should we should we should we eat um have you you you you have a podcast I do have a podcast how do you choose your guests so there's two things there's people that I'm interested in and there's people I'm interested in hearing how they will answer my questions and um i love now what i love is because i started out doing it in covid so it was essentially for for me and then the people who were stuck at home but now whether it's people that i don't know or whether it's my friends texting or dm going oh that was a bit uphill wasn't it or oh my god i loved that one and who was that neuroscientist I can't believe that like you had a neuroscientist or oh my god I had no idea that Lucy Boynton was the most considered lovely intellectually spirited person I thought she was just a beautiful actress like I like what it what it seems to inspire in the people that listen or I always listen to your podcast when I'm on my run it Makes me go running because I know I'll listen to your podcast and I'll be out for 40 minutes or whatever.

24:14I don't know. It just is like a nice... Right, help yourself. This is asparagus fritata. Delicious. That's labna. Lovely. Lenny's strained with her own muslin. Yeah, with my own muslin. Did you really? Yeah, it's easy. Lenny. So easy. I feel like your mum would have done that. By the way, she had the old cheesecloth going. she put a hook in above the kitchen table for her cheesecloth over to make cheese, to make ricotta, to make nut milk, which back in the 70s was just like the most... Oh, wow, she was doing it back then. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I've got your oat milk if you need it. She... Oh. That's so nice.

24:58That's so nice. Do help yourself. So that's labneh. Jess, can you cut some bread? Yeah, bread. Delicious. Tomato and caper's my favourite thing. Yeah. in the world. Now, Minnie, we ask everybody, so just start thinking about this. We ask everybody what their last supper is. Yeah, no, I know. I knew that question in advance. So I presume you've prepped. I did prepped it. It's so funny, I did it last night when I was making the saddest dinner of all dinners. What were you making? My dinner last night was, I'm not joking, yogurt and granola and blueberries because I didn't have anything. And that was it.

25:38I'd been out all day and I came back starving and that was that. So I was thinking about what my last meal was would be. And it would be, and again, it is a bit Proustian, but it would be the roast chicken that my mother made every Sunday and that I make as much every Sunday as I can. and she taught me to make the most important part of any roast meal I think is the gravy right and she did teach me to make the most delicious gravy and how to properly roast potatoes and that celeriac pureed with butter and salt and pepper is unmatched in its deliciousness and any kind of greens that you've got from a farmer's market that are fresh and still sort of crispy and juicy dark greens will be delicious in with under gravy what is your secret for your gravy then well what i've realized over the years and what's so funny is that chickens used to make so much more water because you realize they were they were just they They were pumped with water, but even the ones from down the road, it's funny.

27:00I guess they never made that much juice. So the trick is you have to have made a bone broth from a chicken to then have that as a really, really, really heavily reduced, delicious stock to then add to all the pan juices of the chicken. I take the chicken out, have the big baking tray, take out all my veg, but then all the onion and garlic is still in it, pour in some of my homemade stock then put my flour in and cook the flour really boil it whisk it then taste it chuck in some wine burn off the wine yeah and then it's really sort of salt and pepper and as long as i've reduced it and as long as i've kind of seasoned the chicken really really well and seasoned the vegetables it's the most delicious gravy on earth god that lapar by the way it's delicious good it's really good mom absolutely delicious so easy is it yeah it's just Greek yogurt bit of salt you hung it up in the muslin for how long it comes out mine was up for about three hours yesterday and then mint I put mint on it which she made her she made her in zatter because I didn't have any and I looked it up and it seemed quite easy this this the the roasted peppers with capers and tomatoes.

28:23It so reminds me of the 90s. Why? I swear Delia Smith had a recipe. You used to do it all the time, but I feel like it was like a 90s staple for like when you were bringing something to a party. Do you know what I mean? I like the anchovies and the capers. That's my favourite pizza in the whole world is a Neapolitanic black olives, anchovies, capers. Where do you go for your pizza? I don't know in London. I don't know. I know in California. Okay, where's your California spot? Well, my mate has a pizza night on a Friday night. Her husband makes the dough in the morning. And they got this oven. And they literally had it shipped from Italy.

29:08It is the most incredible oven. And we sit outside and she makes these very, very thin with hot honey. My God, the hot honey. hot honey chili honey all different I don't do the parma ham one but they do one with prosciutto and hot honey but she does one with a white pizza with shrimp that is the most delicious thing pesto white so it's sharp it's incredible absolutely incredible is this an actress or is it a surfer She is a surfer. She's a big studio executive who surfs, and I know her from the water, which is the best place to forge friendships for me in Hollywood. I love that. Because if you meet someone in the water, they know that you are a particular kind of person and you know that they are a particular kind of person and nobody talks about Hollywood in the water.

30:06Have you ever seen other Hollywood actors in the water? Yeah, I have. and also, do you know who I'm going to name and shame right now? Do it. Because I could give a fucking shit. Name him. Do you know who, okay, first of all I need to tell you what dropping in on someone is. In the water, there is an etiquette when you surf that people follow and it is largely for safety. It's also because of respect and it's just how shit works. And what happens when you paddle out, first of all you don't take the first wave that comes because you've just paddled out. You let it cycle through the people that are already there.

30:44Oh, so it's like a kind of queuing system. A hundred percent. Because it's dangerous otherwise. So here's the deal. If you're sitting and if there's someone ahead of you, so basically someone, if you're going right on a wave, if there is someone to your left, they have priority. And you have to wait. If they start handling for the wave. It's like a roundabout. Exactly. It's like a roundabout. so it's a really shitty thing to do to drop in on somebody and there are all kinds of fights and bad things happen in the water when people do that and it's it's shitty so people try not to do that yeah anyway diplo doesn't diplo doesn't not try to do that diplo dropped in on me last summer that I so many times on his stupid phone board with I couldn't and he was out with a mate of mine so I wasn't allowed to say would you fucking stop it and have some respect also you can't surf oh I was so annoyed I'm gonna get I'm gonna get I'm gonna get I'm so I'm so sorry but But, like, it really...

31:56Don't quite a nice. No, I'm going to get in trouble for saying that. No, he needs to learn. But it's also, like, if you're going to come to Malibu and, like, buy your big house and suddenly consider yourself a surfer and paddle out and piss off the people that have lived there for years, you're going to get outed on a podcast. So, anyway, Diplo, I'm coming for you this summer. Look out. Will you... What's it? Drop in on him ever? Just as... And flip the bird. Do you know what? this is going to sound so sanctimonious. I would really try not to do that. I would really rather go over and go, look, mate, not sure if you're aware of the rules, but don't be a dick out here.

32:37I'd rather shame him rather than go and do what he did. But yeah, if I come across him again and he does it again, then I won't. It's also, it's just shizzy. I was going to ask, do you know Diplo? Because I remember him talking about living in Malibu because he loves surfing. you know what stealing her ways but by the way and not just me it was anybody it's that you know what it is it's the level of entitlement I didn't get waves for years I literally would paddle out I would try and get waves I wouldn't get waves and a bunch of old guys took pity on me and eventually after like six or seven months of paddling out and not wait having to wait till everybody got out until I would get waves these old guys were like I'll give you a set wave which is like the big waves that come through but if you don't make it you're not going to get another one have you ever had any kind of terrifying moments no definitely i mean but it didn't put you off no i mean yeah definitely i've bust i've got i've got busted ribs and that was probably the scariest thing that ever happened was like busting my rib i hit my board really i got clamshelled and a wave so basically if you're on a wave and it it kicked up I was already on it it looked fine but it kicked up a couple of feet and then it just shut like that so it sort of shot on my head and it slammed me down on my board and I bust my rib and the only thing about that is you can't get a breath in and my neighbor's dog actually jumped my neighbor's amazing dog jumped in the water and basically came and like started trying to get me out of the water and alerted him that I was in trouble because I was out by myself it was really wow it taught me to never I will never actually that's not true I surf alone all the time but I I would not go out when it was big by myself ever again what was the dog's name Riley he's still alive yeah yeah he's a shepherd lab mix what an amazing he was amazing he was trying to sort of grab me and like nose me back onto my board Does your son surf?

34:41He does. Henry surfs. How did he take instruction? Was he like quite good with it? By the way, he just figured it out for himself. I used to try and then he completely resisted and was like, I'm never going to surf. I'm not going to do it. And then he just started one day. He just picked up a board and he went out and I couldn't believe it. He just jumped right up. And I was like, okay.

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36:22You mentioned you had a pet pig. Well, there was a pig at my school and she was beloved. Beloved. Kludvig. Wow. Yeah. Kludvig. she was she was she was welsh she wasn't welsh clodwick's a celtic clodwick was a king clodwick was actually um a male and my friend polly had a did she have a cat called clodvig anyway i think that's where i got the name from and that's what i called her and i loved her and i've never been able to eat i've really never been able to eat pigs because i loved her so much but so now it's just a bit pigs are clever aren't they they're very clever yeah very very very of all of them they're clever do you have a sweet tooth yeah would you like a little bit of almond gluten-free almond cake i don't i just want it would you like i want labna on the cake but that's true but can't i put some labna on the on the almond it's got salt in it well that might be quite nice has it got like ground I mean yeah if you just ignore the like the herbs on the top like yeah that sort of medicinally herby, do you like a Jager bomb?

37:44no that is cough medicine that's disgusting what is your tipple? Jessie you're going to have some well it's tequila innit it really is, it's a reposado tequila on the rocks with lime and I can make it last a really long time because I let the ice melt what brand? look I know there's everyone in there everyone in their girlfriend has got a tequila out but I'm an old school Casamigos Casamigos Reposado and they've also got this new what's it called they've got a new one that's white but it's not a blanco it's like somewhere between a naniejo and a reposado and it's delicious it's my favourite, that and a beer I want both those things in my hand I want a Pacifico beer and I want a tequila on the rocks and I want to be on the beach and I want to have just surfed does anybody want Basta Pony?

38:38oh yeah I will it was something sort of I'm kind of falling in love with you I would like want to marry you Minnie the way that you live your life no one's wanted to marry me except one person wanted to marry me and we didn't end up getting married but no one has wanted to marry me but I do have a boyfriend who is the great love of my life. And even though he doesn't want to get married, for lots of very hilarious reasons, my favourite being, and I quote, he said, why would I want to be in a throuple with the state of California? So we live... He said something so beautiful the other day when I was sad about not getting married.

39:22And he said, is it because you think that I would I would leave you because we're not married and I was like I don't know maybe it's something like that and he said don't you know that if we were ever not together if you ever left me there's just a Minnie and Henry shaped hole that would just close up behind you and there wouldn't be anything else and then the ring who nearly he's definitely not marrying you can I tell you what I said is please can we just have a party because I want the dancing and the speeches yeah that's all I want and the food. I just want an outdoor, I want a barbecue and like lanterns in the trees and like big long tables and floorboards and the grass with the sea right there and everybody dancing and like my band playing and us playing music all night and people in tents.

40:10Your band? Which band is that? I mean, I've played music, I mean, I feel weird saying that to you, Jessica, I've played music like my whole life and we did used to tour and do stuff. What was the name of the band? Well, it was just me and we, put some records out and we opened for Crowded House well for the Finn Brothers around England and Ireland and we toured North America and they're all my great friends who are now in I mean they were always the most brilliant musicians and they're all in other bands but we get together and we play still sometimes would you but that's who would play would be they would all I would insist they all came off tour and came to my wedding my not wedding I think you should do it I think it's a good idea I think it is what would be your first dance non-dance first non-dance non-first dance Jesus Etc by Wilco it's one of the most beautiful songs ever Wilco, are they like the DJ lot?

41:17no Jeff Tweedy yeah who's that Jeff Tweedy is an amazing musician who started this band he used to be in a band called Uncle Tupelo then he started the band Wilco and Nels Klein who is the guitarist for me the greatest guitarist in the whole world so worth listening to you'll be very happy when you put your headphones in and you listen to Jesus etc there's something distant and romantic and lovely about that song are you a hippie? Yes. Do you think everyone should be hippies, Minnie Driver? No, I think everybody should do whatever the fuck they want, which is probably the most hippie-ish thing that you can say.

41:59I really do think, whatever makes you happy, if it doesn't hurt somebody. You'd have done better in Topanga Canyon. You've got, it's too far away from the... Okay, thank you. You get stuck. Yeah, this is what happens in the years as well. You get stuck by rock falls and landslides in Topanga. That's why I never lived there. But there's all landslides, all the way along that bloody Pacific Coast Highway. And it's been a nightmare because it's been down to one lane. I know, it's been, it was awful. I love that you were just there. I know, it was hellish. I didn't leave. Can I ask, we didn't get your sweet.

42:29Oh, so again, you know, forgive the whole Proustian. Can I use your spoon to put this on? This is yummy, Mum. It really is delicious. Doesn't taste as almondy as I thought it was. It tastes great. And it's just almonds. Love it. It's absolutely delicious. I love it. we used to have this fruit cage that my mum obviously to stop the birds getting all the fruit and we had every known fruit in there, currants and blackberries and black currants, raspberries, strawberries and so to stop the birds she built this big fruit cage and we get sent out to go and pick and I remember just being little in amongst all of those bushes picking fruit and then she'd make, with the juice running down my purse and then she'd make a crumble oh she made crumble so we'd see this go and get like all the fruit and she would make a crumble out of all she'd never go you should have only got the red currants or you should have only got the thing she's just got everything that is so incredibly delicious a crumble with homemade custard that is so extraordinarily delicious I make that in America and people are like what is this sauce is this creme anglaise like what is this and I'm like no it's custard they don't know what custard is custard in America is like a frozen like a frozen sort of dessert a custard it's really weird like frozen custard but custard is a pouring thing doesn't exist except it does because they call it creme anglaise in fancy restaurants but you can't get gravy powder or stock cubes that's really hard to find no but they have like they have the broth in the freezer you buy it ready made I'm not anti that well I am because you don't use it all and then you've got half thing open of broth by the way that's a really good point I use half of it and then I freeze the rest and I know you're not supposed to but I put it in when I get a big thing of broth like put it in ice cube things I decant it into smaller bags alright that's a little hack where's your favourite shopping i mean do you go to whole foods all the time you're just you are gonna hate this whole thing but i i do sometimes go to the whole foods but there's a farm up the road in malibu and it's up the hill it's down the hill and then up into the canyon and it's a farm and you go and you like you get in line there's a man who sells coffee and you stand in line for your bread and you're in amongst the flower fields so they sell flowers and they all these different vegetables and we go on a saturday morning and there are little dirty kids scrabbling around in the dirt and sometimes there's like an accordion and a guitar player i mean it's mad hippie it sounds great it's lovely and you get your bread and you get your veg and your fruit sounds like it's near cornell the old place it sounds like it's near the old place or something oh do you know that's up canan that's down, it's actually, you carry along along the PCH and then you go up to this place called Bush Drive.

45:39Or is it Bonsal? I can't remember. So I do tend to do, particularly in the summer, I'll do that shop on a Saturday. And then the other stuff, I like going to our old supermarket that's been there. I like sort of giving them my money, not Whole Foods. It's called Pavilions. It's just like a sort of... Oh, I love Pavilions. I love Pavilions. Can I ask you, what would be a really nostalgic taste from your childhood? Oh my God, coronation chicken. Mum used to make that for a picnic. I haven't ever made that. Love it. Whenever we had a picnic, she would make the coronation chicken. Did you like it?

46:20If someone was coming over. It's one of those things, I'm not sure that I like it. I would just eat it because it is... What's really not to like? It's kind of curry, it's creamy, it's chicken, it's sweet. I don't really have an opinion about it it's just it is hardwired into my food history it was celebratory as well you did it for a party and like deviled eggs the same thing when was the last time you had coronation chicken? oh my god it's going to make me cry it was when my mum was alive oh Minnie I'm sorry she's still there Minnie that's so weird you speak so fondly of her and she seems so vivid and yeah, I'm so sorry.

47:03She is. I think it's also like being here with, it's so lovely. Like you, you guys. It's so nice to, it's so nice hearing you talk to each other. Oh, I'm super. Like even you telling me to fuck off. I bet you didn't tell your mum to fuck off. Do you know what? I probably, I probably didn't. Maybe I did, I don't know. isn't that weird that coronation chicken would have such a sort of proustian effect i'm sorry

47:38silly it's totally right like it we should cry over coronation chicken if it reminds us of people that we love like i think everything should be everything should be allowed like when you if you feel it truthfully it should all be allowed i don't think we let ourselves feel deeply enough and end up stuffing it away somewhere and then it comes out at the wrong moments this is you know it sounds like your childhood was so rich in kind of like it sounds like your mum got great memories like amazing memories particularly around food and like discovery and like you were foraging you were I don't know like it sounds like you have so much respect for your mum yeah and you have so many amazing memories and we're really lucky to have some of them on here so thank you oh you're so welcome god and thank you for that delicious food it's such a pleasure yummy um i need to ask one little thing yeah you probably don't do karaoke because you're a musician but if you had to do a karaoke song which song would you sing can i tell you that is it's the most brilliant question and i have with one particular friend of mine it is the it will be an entire morning going okay it's karaoke what are we going to sing and then we'll go okay now remember that whenever you sing that song you're always transposing it and you're singing it lower than the key that it will be in when you get to karaoke and there is nothing worse than standing up in karaoke and starting to sing a song and then you're like oh no i can start there but i know it's going to go up to the sea and i'm going to be fucked I really like doing songs that you can actually sing really well but that are also joyfully entertaining because I think karaoke standing up and wanting everyone to think what an amazing voice you have at karaoke is a bit weird I'm not for that unless you're like Beyonce I suppose Hank Williams to answer your question Jambalaya Goodbye Joe Me gotta go Me on my own Me gotta go Hard to be On the bio Oh I like it Do you not know it?

49:56No but I like hearing you sing Minnie So carry on Son of a gun Gonna have big fun On the bio It's such a good song It's such a good karaoke song And because it starts with a fiddle And everyone's like Oh Hello Oh it's a bit of Oh it's some country What's happening? And then everyone feels really jolly Right from the get go And then you can And then it's got a massive chorus that you can go mad on. Everybody knows Sikora. Do you see yourself more as a kind of Americana gal or like a Brit? Can I tell you, this is one of the things that was making last night when I was eating my yogurt and granola, like staring out going, what is my life?

50:32I was like saying that. I think you better send me home with food. Exactly. Loving that it was light at like eight o 'clock at night. And I was staring and I was going, what am I? Like where do I belong? Because I know that I am from here. I know my mother lived here, my sister lived here, my brother, their children. Like what? But I sit there just dreaming of the Pacific Ocean. Like she's my lover. Like I dream about her at night. Like I think of being, I think of diving into her. Like, and that, that feels like home to me. But where you are from is a different kind of, of feeling of home, you know?

51:13So I just don't think it's one place. And I feel sad that I don't feel that. Because I love that people go, I'm a Londoner, I'm from here, this is my place, I will always return. There's something really tethered about that. And I've always felt a bit untethered. Not in a mental way. Do you have both passports? You're Moana. You're Moana. Do you have both passports? I do. Yeah. I do only because they honestly during the Trump administration I started getting threatening uh threatening correspondence around my green card I was very vocal about how awful he is and how awful he would be and it was really interesting and I realized I had I had an American kid and my life was there and I was like I better become a citizen uh which as my mother said she was like God it's like it's like you think it's like you're walking into the fire instead of a wafer what are you some sort of American fireman I was like yeah I suppose so you say you're out of jobs but you actually are about to be on telly again yes Serpent Queen the Serpent Queen you're Queen Elizabeth I'm Queen Elizabeth no big deal no big deal at all Queen Elizabeth the first or the second the first okay yeah so did you oh yeah was the look it was absolutely incredible There was a, the hair and makeup designer is called Jenny Rhodes McLean and what she and her extraordinary team created.

52:46I had prosthetic eyebrows because I wouldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't bleach my eyebrows. They would all fall out. It's just not a good thing to do. And then they don't grow back. So we did these prosthetic eyebrows and he had the full glassy white face and the clothes and the wigs. And it was extraordinary. and it's the most amazing show Samantha Morton plays Catherine de' Medici God I love her all these fantastic English actors where's it going to be on? it'll be on is this the first season? no this is the second season so here's the absolute bastard of how it is released in the UK essentially you can find it through your Amazon Prime that's the easiest way to say it because in America it's just on a channel called Stars which is just like part of a package stars isn't that on disney as well it's on amazon prime it's on that exactly so you basically can find it through amazon prime but you i think you have to add it you won't you have to you have to know to look for it which is why it's frustrating for people in the uk but i think season one was worth watching and then season two i know for absolute certain will be worth watching because it's um it is my honestly i think my favorite my favorite character i ever have the serpent queen the serpent queen is catherine de medici who was essentially the sort of de facto queen of france even though her children were the kings.

54:06And she's played by Samantha Morton with great vigour and awfulness, you know, in a good way. It's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend it. If you like the favourite and you like the grey, it's very much in that style except Justin Hay, who wrote it, he is an exquisite writer. He was a novelist who then became a screenwriter. He wrote a movie called Revolutionary Road. and then I've seen that Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio yes it's a brilliant brilliant programme I urge people to try and find it because it is a bit of a hike to find it but you will can we also talk about the fact that probably Starstruck isn't coming back no I know I loved it wasn't it brilliant you were such a bitch god I know I loved it was so good but she's right to do like a perfect three we've had them both on I mean are they just Rose is so talented and Nick Ash is such a lovely man oh my god just had a baby so Nick Ash how brilliant to be the sort of the romantic lead in when Rose had and all the sort of funny was around in a way around her and her flatmate and taking the piss out of him and he was so graceful yeah because it totally he kind of had to sit back and let the jokes kind of fly and he was so generous with it So generous about doing that.

55:32It was wicked. He's clever and brilliant. I bet Rose was a good girl. She's funny. She's just very dry. Very dry. She's brilliant. She is. She's amazing. Minnie Driver, thank you for being here. Thank you for educating us. Thank you for being so open and beautifully honest and loving your food. It's been such a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much, Jessie. Many thank you. Such a pleasure, darling. Thank you for making us delicious food.

56:12I love Mini Driver. I think that there should be like the Mini Driver way of life. Jessie, you're going to have to become a surfer to have your way of life. I'm not sure you're a surfer, darling. Jessie, I can't get over her skin. It is smooth like porcelain. and she is gorgeous and she does not, she looks 10 years younger than she is. Wear sunscreen, kids, and wear a hat. That's what I'm learning. Does she wear a hat when she's surfing? She wears everything when she's surfing. Oh, so she looks like Nicole Kidman when she's out there. Yes, I think so. I just, what I find fascinating about Minnie Driver is that, you know, you think of her as this big film star from the, what, the 90s that kind of made big splashes, excuse the pun, and then decides to kind of shun the Hollywood life for being a beach bum.

56:59Not a beach bum, but you know, I find that really fascinating. Lives in a trailer park. Didn't have that on my bingo card for Mini Driver. I'm Googling if I can afford to buy a mobile home in Malibu. That's quite a good idea, isn't it? Jessica! Mum! I'll go home. We're moving in Malibu! I wonder how much it would be. Going back to our Abbasoch roots, Mum. She asked my number. We're going to be friends. I love it when that happens on this podcast. Jessie, you're always friends. Love it. Love Mini Driver. loved her authenticity and just she enjoyed being here so much and I loved hearing about her mum she really loved her mum I'm going to try and be a bit more mini driver today take it slow going to catch a wave it was nice today wasn't it it was so yum the food mum it was great it was your best brunch yet loved the cake that was easy Lenny you smacked it today you caught a wave, caught a set whatever it is, hang five rip curl, hang five I didn't realise there was all that etiquette about queuing for your wave and she didn't catch a wave for six months I'd be like fuck off, I'm in I'm ready for when my kids are slightly older for us to be that surfing family, anyway thank you for listening and thank you to Mini Driver and we'll see you next week Podcast Neck podcast neck how's the podcast neck i think i need to sit the other way i think i'm gonna sit on the other side let's mix it up to kind of find the idea the other way thanks so much and we'll see you next week

58:58If you're a smoker or vapor ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zinn Nicotine Pouches, you'll discover many good reasons. Zinn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zinn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zinn. Check out Zinn.com slash find to find Zinn at a store near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.