Minnie Driver Breaks Off Engagement

October 4 -- Minnie Driver has broken off her five-and-a-half-month-old engagement to actor Josh Brolin, her publicist said Wednesday in a brief statement. The move prevents Driver from becoming the daughter-in-law of Barbra Streisand, who happens to be married to Josh's father, James Brolin

"Minnie Driver and Josh Brolin have decided to cancel their wedding plans. Their decision is mutual and amicable," the statement said. No other details were given.

Driver, 31, the London-born star of Return to Me and An Ideal Husband, and Brolin, 33, announced their plans to get married in mid-April, but no date was ever set, her publicist said. They reportedly began their romance in 1998 on the set of the film Slow Burn, which went straight to video last fall.

Driver's love life was regular gossip column fodder back when she was dating her Good Will Hunting co-star Matt Damon. The actress reportedly learned of that breakup when she saw Damon tell Oprah Winfrey on her talk show that he was single. Oops. The two stars were then forced to endure the subsequent awards season painfully yoked by their dual nominations for the film.

Brolin's film credits include the Kevin Bacon thriller Hollow Man, the 1999 film remake of The Mod Squad, and the 1996 comedy Flirting with Disaster. The actor, who likes to drive race cars, has two children from a former marriage to actress Alice Adair.

Reuters contributed to this story.