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"  Photo: Courtesy of Variance Films  Minnie Driver is back! The actress who is known for her performances in Circle of Friends, Grosse Pointe Blank, and the unforgettable Good Will Hunting, will be taking back the spotlight in NBC&amp;#039;s upcoming adaptation of the 2002 film About A Boy. She will take on the role originated by Toni Collette for the TV series. She is also starring in the film Hunky Dory, which hits U.S. theaters today. Set in 1976 Wales, the Shakespearean &amp;quot;glam-rock-opera-musical&amp;quot; (think Glee but with more soul and irreverence) depicts the academic battle to fuel students&amp;#039; self-expression, whims of rebellion, sexual experimentation, and heartbreak versus suppressing it. As a high school drama teacher, Driver&amp;#039;s character Viv does just that and walks the same inspirational path as Sidney Poitier in To Sir With Love and Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. The movie features songs by David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Led Zeppelin. We sat down with Driver to talk high school, Lyle Lovett, and her love affair with Shakespeare. ELLE: How did your high school experience compare to the one portrayed? Minnie Driver: It was quite similar. I went to an amazing, innovative, progressive, cool school. We were constantly bursting into song and playing instruments and having a good time. It was a very loose atmosphere, but it still managed to be wildly academic, as well. The film was very nostalgic. It was a lot of wandering through the fields, listening to David Bowie, smoking cigarettes, and drinking illicit beer. That definitely spoke volumes to me about my own experience. ELLE: Your character is both an inspiring director and an inspiring teacher\u2014how are those roles the same? MD: I&amp;#039;ve never made that connection. I&amp;#039;ve always talked about the teachers I&amp;#039;ve had. And I&amp;#039;ve always loved pretty much bar none every director I&amp;#039;ve worked with. They both speak to the individual, in exactly the same way. They understand the person who they are working with and how to get through to them. They know what button to push to get you to the next step. The hardest thing in leaving school was leaving my teachers. And the hardest thing about finishing a movie was leaving my director. ELLE: Who would be your dream duet partner? MD: If you&amp;#039;d asked me this six months ago, I would have said Lyle Lovett, and I probably would have picked &amp;quot;Angel from Montgomery.&amp;quot; But the other day\u2013quite out of the blue and quite by chance\u2014I did just that. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life\u2014singing with [Lyle]. So now, if I had to sing with anyone living or dead, it would be John Lennon without a shadow of a doubt. And I would like to harmonize on &amp;quot;Across the Universe&amp;#039; with him. ELLE: As adults, why do we lose sight of self-expression? MD: We buy into the pre-fab, onion layers that society presents us with, and we kind of put them on. We believe we have to jump through these particular hoops that have been preordained\u2014as oppose to going, &amp;quot;Well, this doesn&amp;#039;t feel right. I&amp;#039;m going to do something that does feel right.&amp;quot; People do do that. They let go, and they stop doing the job that pays the mortgage. They get out of the relationship that&amp;#039;s been making them unhappy for a number of years. But, for the most part, we start subscribing to a bunch of rules that other people have made. I&amp;#039;m not sure why that is\u2013I encourage my son, not to [do that]. You have to be a pioneer in your own life. ELLE: What was your first moment with Shakespeare? MD: At my school, when we arrived to do As You Like It, our teacher gave us all a map and a compass. He split us into groups and said, &amp;quot;Go out and find the Forest of Arden; we&amp;#039;ll decide democratically where the best location is, and we&amp;#039;ll meet there every time we have class to do the play there,&amp;quot; Which is exactly what we did. So, my first moment with Shakespeare was actually being in our own Forest of Arden, performing this play. I didn&amp;#039;t understand the words. It was like listening to another language\u2014I was only 10 or 11\u2014but I knew that I would. It was like the beginning of a love affair. You have no idea what the hell is going on, or how it&amp;#039;s going to end, but I knew it would be good. Keep up to date with the latest culture news.  Photo: Courtesy of Variance Films  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a22873/minnie-driver-hunky-dory-interview/>