Melissa Leo Says Winning an Oscar ‘Was Not Good for My Career’

Melissa Leo is getting candid about her status as an Academy Award winner. 

“Winning an Oscar has not been good for me or my career,” the actress, 65, said while answering recent reader-submitted questions for The Guardian. “I didn’t dream of it, I never wanted it, and I had a much better career before I won.”

Leo triumphed in the Supporting Actress Oscar category in 2011 for her performance in the David O. Russell-directed boxing drama The Fighter. Costarring Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams and fellow Oscar winner Christian Bale, the hit film resulted in several prizes for Leo, who has since had an Emmy-winning guest appearance on Louie in 2013. She also starred in the 2015 series Wayward Pines and 2017 film The Most Hated Woman in America.

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“One loses one’s mind,” she said in response to a question about the moment she became an Oscar winner. “I had won a lot of prestigious awards for The Fighter that season, and sat in that great gigantic theatre thinking: ‘Well, it certainly is possible.’”

It was meeting presenter Kirk Douglas that constituted “all I was thinking about,” continued Leo. “Every single actor, director and producer you recognise, is staring you in the face.”

She added, “I then cursed, and I’m still sorry I cursed. I f—ing curse all the time, but you cannot curse on network television. Thank God for the 10-second delay, which was introduced for f—ing idiots like me.”

Leo hinted again at her dissatisfaction with her screen career when answering a question about choosing roles. “My work chooses me,” she said. “I’m happy to play what I’m offered – apart from after The Fighter, when all I was offered was older, nasty women. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

The award winner added that she’s “dying” to play a princess or queen. “I want lovely fancy costumes, maybe from another period. Years ago, I made a film called A Time of Destiny, which was set in the 40s. Not all actors can fit in period pieces because they feel too modern, but I can play goodies and baddies – past, present and future.”

After appearing in last year’s Kevin James and Christina Ricci movie Guns Up and Nnamdi Asomugha and Aja Naomi King movie The Knife, Leo will next star in the André Øvredal-directed Passenger.