Melissa Leo (14 September 1960, New York City, New York, USA) movies list and roles

[Excerpt from her 2011 Academy Award acceptance speech] When I watched Kate Winslet two years ago, it looked so fucking easy - Oops!

[on interpreting the title role in Francine (2012)] To play someone when the character masks their own emotions, doesn't understand their ow...Show more »

[on interpreting the title role in Francine (2012)] To play someone when the character masks their own emotions, doesn't understand their own emotions, has no release for their own emotions, and yet is full of emotion - that is a much harder character to play than someone who has somewhere to put it. Show less «

Being an actor on a movie set is like going to the playground at recess.

An actor's life is fairly lonely.

I am a smoker, I'm ashamed to say. I had given it up for many years, then picked it up again. It's a horrible habit. I struggle with myself ...Show more »

I am a smoker, I'm ashamed to say. I had given it up for many years, then picked it up again. It's a horrible habit. I struggle with myself all the time. And I love to smoke. Show less «

Acting is the business of truth, so that we can see ourselves reflected back and learn.

An actor has to be very, very careful, as one of the most wonderful props - and actors love props - is a cigarette. There's so much to do wi...Show more »

An actor has to be very, very careful, as one of the most wonderful props - and actors love props - is a cigarette. There's so much to do with it: you can bring it up to your face, play with the smoke. It's just the greatest - ever since I was 16 and in acting school in England, I've been playing around with cigarettes. Show less «

My mom was a '70s mom. She paved a road that no one had yet walked.

I'm very old-school. I like a director to direct me. I like to be the actor.

I'm not particularly fond of the hybrid writer-director or actor-director.

I'm a very lucky girl who gets to act for a living! So why sit around griping and grousing about what's not there.

I think this notion of acting and glamor is getting in everybody's way.

The key to acting has much more to do with listening than with talking.

The climate informs the character.

That's probably the biggest secret of acting: If the actor believes it themselves, they can make you believe it.

Supporting actors are the support. You can't make a building without support. You can't buy dinner without support.

People often expect me to be something other than what I am.

I do get a fair amount of scripts; I got 'Frozen River' kinda just that way. I have a hard time turning my back on anybody who says they hav...Show more »

I do get a fair amount of scripts; I got 'Frozen River' kinda just that way. I have a hard time turning my back on anybody who says they have something for me. Show less «

Ever since Marilyn Monroe was transformed from one of the prettiest girls you could ever hope to see into an icon, everyone has been trying ...Show more »

Ever since Marilyn Monroe was transformed from one of the prettiest girls you could ever hope to see into an icon, everyone has been trying to repeat that icon. And now the entire industry is filled with, and by and large run by, wannabes. Show less «

To get the hippie out of certain characters is probably the most difficult thing for me. I was not a hippie by choice but by birth.

There were not enough women like Kay on TV and now there are none.

The power of television - it's so present in our lives, we don't even know how powerful it is.

I think there has only been one time in my entire career that I've ever gone back to shoot a scene. And it was a scene that, when we were sh...Show more »

I think there has only been one time in my entire career that I've ever gone back to shoot a scene. And it was a scene that, when we were shooting it, we knew that it wasn't working. We knew there was a disagreement between the actor and director. So, we went back. Show less «

I think the funny thing about acting for me - and I hold it in a very holy, spiritual way - not to be overly fundamentalist about it, but it...Show more »

I think the funny thing about acting for me - and I hold it in a very holy, spiritual way - not to be overly fundamentalist about it, but it's that important to me - is that it is an ancient healing art. Show less «

I mean, the unfair treatment of women and black people and Indians and other groups, that's real. Mistreatment of other people because 'I'm ...Show more »

I mean, the unfair treatment of women and black people and Indians and other groups, that's real. Mistreatment of other people because 'I'm better than you are' is such a sad part of the world. Show less «

I haven't had a lot of experience with glamor. I've never had to mask myself, as many now not-so-young actresses have had to do. Female acto...Show more »

I haven't had a lot of experience with glamor. I've never had to mask myself, as many now not-so-young actresses have had to do. Female actors in that regard have a different lot in life than male actors. Show less «

I have some close friends I keep in touch with. I knit. I watch a little too much TV. I ski, if the weather's right for that. If I can find ...Show more »

I have some close friends I keep in touch with. I knit. I watch a little too much TV. I ski, if the weather's right for that. If I can find a group of buddies, I go rock climbing. Show less «

You know, when I got started on television in the '80s, you would go to the costume department, and if you were a female they put you into a...Show more »

You know, when I got started on television in the '80s, you would go to the costume department, and if you were a female they put you into a skirt. And you had a pocketbook, usually a shoulder bag. Show less «

Well, I don't think of myself as a feminist at all. As soon as we start labeling and categorizing ourselves and others, that's going to shut...Show more »

Well, I don't think of myself as a feminist at all. As soon as we start labeling and categorizing ourselves and others, that's going to shut down the world. Show less «

Through all of this lovely interviewing, and nice things people say, and the rest of it, I have learned that I am an actor. That is my profe...Show more »

Through all of this lovely interviewing, and nice things people say, and the rest of it, I have learned that I am an actor. That is my profession. That is my job. That is how I make a living. So I am just out there making a living. Show less «

My body has done for me all these years things I couldn't ever even dreamt to do for characters. It's a tool, molecularly speaking, and I ne...Show more »

My body has done for me all these years things I couldn't ever even dreamt to do for characters. It's a tool, molecularly speaking, and I need to take care of it. Show less «