Minnie Driver gives advice to her 'heartbroken' younger self about Matt Damon split

Minnie Driver wishes she could give her 1998 self a hug after being left "totally heartbroken" by her breakup with Matt Damon.

The "Good Will Hunting" star, 54, spoke on the "Jennifer Hudson Show" Thursday about looking visibly upset at the 1998 Academy Awards, as she says Damon had recently broken up with her. Last year, Driver commented on a clip of herself appearing unhappy while Damon and Ben Affleck were accepting their screenplay Oscar for the film.

"I want to wrap my arms around that young woman and hug her and go, 'It's all going to be fine, honey,'" Driver said on "The Jennifer Hudson Show" while looking at this clip of her 25-year-old self. "Don't worry."

Driver and Damon met in 1997 while filming "Good Will Hunting," which was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two. She was nominated for best supporting actress, while Damon was nominated for best actor in addition to winning for his screenplay. During his Oscar acceptance speech with Damon, Affleck praised Driver for her "brilliant" performance.

According to Driver, her relationship with Damon ended weeks before the Oscars in March 1998, and Damon had a new girlfriend by the time of the ceremony.

Minnie Driver recalls being 'devastated' by Matt Damon breakup at 1998 Oscars

"I was totally heartbroken," she shared, adding that anyone who has had their heart broken can understand that "the last thing you want is everybody having a window in on that."

Looking back over 25 years later, Driver says she wishes she had been able to celebrate her film's big night at the Oscars. She told Hudson that if she could, she would tell herself, "Honey, it's cool. You can celebrate. Life's going to be great and beautiful and hard and amazing, and you're going to love again. It'll be fine."

Driver also said she had never seen this clip of the Oscars cutting to her, a "poor, young 25-year-old girl who's about to burst into tears," before coming across it on Instagram. She described the moment as "so raw" and "vulnerable."

Minnie Driver writes about life, Hollywood (and Harvey Weinstein) with wit in 'Managing Expectations'

In 2022, Driver told Entertainment Tonight her relationship with Damon was a "sweet romance," even though it had a "combustible ending, which then became the focus." She also looked back on the feeling of being watched for her reactions at the Oscars.

"There's a guy who'd been sent, the cameraman at the Academy Awards he'd literally been told to stay on me and he was so in my grill. He was like a wildlife photographer waiting for the kill," she said. "He was just waiting for the moment that I was going to break or something was going to happen or I was going to get up and scream."

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Naledi Ushe

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minnie Driver on what she'd tell younger self after Matt Damon split