Melissa Leo had a real "pinch me" moment at the 2011 Oscars. The actress took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Fighter — and was presented with the Oscar by none other than Kirk Douglas.
"To share the stage with Kirk Douglas is incredibly moving to me," Leo shares in the Academy's "Behind the Oscars Speech" series. Upon accepting her Oscar, Leo asked Douglas to pinch her, and he sweetly did.
"[It was] very genuinely unexpected. Not the win so much, but what the experience itself was," she explains. "To work opposite Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg—without Mark Wahlberg, we wouldn't have had a movie. And if I could have remembered all of the names of all the crew, [I would have listed them]. That's how we do what we do."
Leo played Alice Eklund-Ward, the mother of brothers Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (Bale), in The Fighter. The film, also starring Amy Adams, centered on fledgling boxer Micky as he tried to escape the shadow of his older brother and get his own shot at greatness.
David O. Russell directed the movie, written by Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson and Scott Silver. Wahlberg also produced, alongside Tamasy, Ryan Kavanaugh, Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman and Dorothy Aufiero. The Fighter was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. In addition to Leo's win, Bale took home Best Supporting Actor.
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