‘Speechless’ Star Minnie Driver Reveals Her Favorite Part About Playing Maya DiMeo
Minnie Driver loves the fact that her “Speechless” character, Maya DiMeo, is not an ideal image of a mother.
In a guest column for TV Insider, Driver revealed that what she likes most about playing Maya is that “she’s a real human being.”
“[She’s] faulted, messy and fully rounded,” Driver wrote of the DiMeo matriarch, who has three children, including a son with cerebral palsy. “I’m into [playing] women who don’t color within the lines or fit into a cute little box. Like all of us, Maya is not just one thing. She can be awful, and she can be utterly brave and wonderful. She’s ludicrously self-involved while also being selfless.”
READ: Minnie Driver talks capturing “Speechless” unique tone
“I’m convinced Maya’s imperfection is what makes her so lovable,” added the Oscar-nominated actress.
Driver recently confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that a lot of actresses didn’t want to play Maya because they viewed her as too unlikeable. But Driver saw Maya’s unpleasantness as one of her most human traits, and that’s one of the things that drew her to the role.
“I have a really hard time when women are described as difficult because it’s often just a dreadful patriarchal cover for someone who is strong, knows what they want and is vocal about getting it [like Maya],” Driver said of her current TV role. “She’s not that nice. … She’s really a scary mess, but I do love her.”
“Speechless” returns from its two-week hiatus with Season 1, episode 20, titled “R-U-N—RUNAWAY,” which airs on Wednesday, April 26 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
According to the synopsis of the episode, JJ (Micah Fowler) attempts to run away from home, while Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) struggles to have hard talks with Ray (Mason Cook) and Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) without Maya. Also in the episode, Dylan tries to get Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) to revive his glory days as a high school sports star.
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