Change footnote symbol in minipage

Question

How can I change the footnote symbol (currently the number "1") to an asterisk (*) in a minipage?

The LaTeX code which I'm using for the minipage (inside the document):

\begin{minipage}{0.4\textwidth}
\begin{flushright} \large
\emph{Supervisor:} \\
{}{\supname}\footnotemark \linebreak
\end{flushright}
\end{minipage}\\[1cm]
\footnotetext{Footnote text here}

Answer 1

Using Werner's code as a model, here's how you can restore the normal footnotes after the fact, by using a group.

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage[paperheight=20\baselineskip]{geometry}% Just for this example

\begin{document}

\begingroup
\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}
\begin{minipage}{0.4\textwidth}
  \raggedleft\large
  \emph{Supervisor:}

  Supervisor name\makebox[0pt][l]{\footnotemark}
\end{minipage}
\footnotetext{Footnote text here}\addtocounter{footnote}{-1}
\endgroup

\bigskip

Text again\footnote{Whatever}

\end{document}

I put the footnote mark in a zero width box, so it will stick outside, which is usually what's wanted in these cases.

Answer 2

If you're not using numbered footnotes elsewhere in your document, add

\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}

to your preamble. This will start footnotes being "numbered" with an asterisk:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[paperheight=20\baselineskip]{geometry}% Just for this example
\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}

\begin{document}

\begin{minipage}{0.4\textwidth}
  \raggedleft\large
  \emph{Supervisor:}

  Supervisor name\footnotemark
\end{minipage}

\footnotetext{Footnote text here}

\end{document}