On Sunday, Melissa Leo received her first Academy Award for her supporting performance in “The Fighter,” a film that catapulted the 50-year-old actress into the spotlight.
She plays Alice Ward, the passive-aggressive mother of half-brother fighters Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) and up-and -comer “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg).
Leo appeared nervous and let a rare “F-word” slip out on the film industry’s greatest night when Leo took the stage to accept her Oscar.
She told presenter Kirk Douglas, “Will you pinch me?”
“I know there’s a lot of people that said a lot of real, real nice things for several months now but I’m just shaking in my boots here,” she added before thanking her co-stars and the film’s producers.
Christian Bale, her co-star, took up the prize for Best Supporting Actor.
Leo got the first language “bleep” of the awards ceremony presentation while honoring members of the Ward family on whose tale “The Fighter” was based,
Backstage, she expressed her regret to anyone who had been upset by the phrase she felt was unsuitable for the occasion, saying, “I apologize to anyone they offend. There is a great deal of the English language that is in my vernacular. I did not mean to offend, and (it was) a very inappropriate place to use that particular word.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members who voted for her were praised, and Leo stated that the Oscars are about “selling motion pictures and respecting the work.”
Leo’s achievement makes up for the fact that she was nominated for the best actress Oscar in 2009 but didn’t win for Frozen River.
From 1993 until 1997, she was most recognized for her role as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard in the television series “Homicide: Life on the Street.” Leo has also been a cast member of “All My Children” and “The Young Riders.” “21 Grams,” “Confess” and “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” are among her cinematic credits.
Helena Bonham Carter of the United Kingdom, Amy Adams of the United States, Jacki Weaver of Australia, and 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld were all on the shortlist for supporting actress.
