Melissa Leo: Oscar Win Didn’t Help My Career

Oscar-winning actress Melissa Leo is thinking back to the award she won for her supporting part in the 2010 David O. Russell film about a boxer.The Fighter, stating that it was harmful to her career and personal life.

In a Q&A published in The Guardian, the Frozen RiverStar responded to fan-submitted questions, including one regarding her 2011 Oscar win.

One goes crazy,” she said. “I had received many notable awards forThe Fighterthat season, and sat in that massive theater thinking: ‘Well, it certainlyis“Possible,” said Kirk Douglas as he came out to present the best supporting actress award, opened the envelope, and called my name. I was thrilled to meet him— that was all I could think about.

She continued, describing the scene: “I looked toward the house, which in most theaters, you can spot by glancing just above your line of sight. In the Dolby Theatre, you have to tilt your head up as if you’re about to climb Mount Everest. Every actor, director, and producer you know is staring directly at you. I then let out a curse, and I still regret it. I curse all the time, but you can’t curse on network television. Thank goodness for the 10-second delay, which was put in place for people like me who swear constantly. That said, winning an Oscar hasn’t been good for me or my career. I never dreamed of it, I never wanted it, and I had a much better career before I won.”

The Fighterfocuses on the life of professional boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), who is managed by his mother Alice (Leo) and coached by his older half-brother and former boxer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale).

Regarding the role, Leo stated, “I agreed because David truly wanted me to portray his Alice. After that, I met the actual Alice Ward, who had a background quite different from my maternal grandmother’s, yet there was a resemblance to my grandmother in her, which helped me find a way to embody her. I wasn’t much older than most of the nine individuals who played Alice’s children, but that’s just how it is in film.”

Leo – who is also recognized for her performances in Denis Villeneuve’sPrisoners, The Equalizer franchise, Oliver Stone’s Snowden and the HBO series I’m Certain of This Much Is True– included in her replies that she’s “happy to play what I’m given – except afterThe Fighterwhen all I was given was older, unpleasant women. I don’t want to go through that anymore.