Melissa Leo, an Academy Award-winning actress, claims that the recognition she gained for her supporting part in the 2010 boxing biopic The Fighter harmed both her personal and professional lives. She responded to questions from fans in a Q&A that was published in The Guardian. One of the queries concerned her 2011 Oscar victory.
She said, “One loses one’s mind. 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.’ Kirk Douglas came out to present the best supporting actress award, opened the envelope, and called my name. I was so delighted to meet him — that was all I was thinking about.”
She went on to describe the scene, “I turned to the house, which in most theaters, you can see by looking a little above your own eyesight. In the Dolby Theatre, you have to raise your chin like you’re about to scale Mount Everest. Every single actor, director, and producer you recognize, is staring you in the face. I then cursed, and I’m still sorry I cursed. I fucking curse all the time, but you cannot curse on network television. Thank God for the 10-second delay, which was introduced for fucking idiots like me. Having said that, winning an Oscar has not been good for me or my career. I didn’t dream of it, I never wanted it, and I had a much better career before I won.”
The Fighter revolves around the life of professional boxer Micky Ward, who is coached by his elder half-brother/former boxer Dicky Eklund, and sponsored by his mother Alice.
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Leo stated, “I accepted because David really, really wanted me to be his Alice. Then I met the real Alice Ward, who came from a very different socioeconomic background than my mother’s mother, but there was something of my mother’s mother in her, so that’s where I found a path towards becoming her. I was no more than 10 years older than the majority of the nine people who played Alice’s children, but that’s movies for you.”
