Boy Band Wannabe

Minghella first met Tony Blair on the set of the Monkees, the sixties TV series based on the amusing antics of a cheeky boy band.

It was the floundering fag-end of the band's career, but Blair had determined he would join and lead them back to greatness. Arriving in Hollywood, he claimed to have bunked off school, hitchhiked all the way there, and shot a man in Reno after dropping six tabs of acid. In reality, everyone knew his parents had paid for him to travel out with the Official Monkees fan club, and he was staying with his auntie in Santa Monica.

Minghella was the unfortunate director on set when Blair made his attempt at pop immortality. Sadly, Minghella was subsequently fired, and didn't work again for nearly a decade.