Melissa Leo won the Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG Award for her tour de force performance in “The Fighter”.   She also received Oscar and SAG nominations for her starring role in “Frozen River,” for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead and a Spotlight Award from the National Board of Review and many other accolades and universal critical adulation.

Leo shared a Best Ensemble acting award from the Phoenix Film Critics Society for her outstanding work in “21 Grams” opposite Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.   Her most recent films include “Conviction,” opposite Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell and “Welcome to the Rileys” opposite James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart.   Other notable film work includes “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” in which she starred opposite Dwight Yoakam and Tommy Lee Jones, and “Hide and Seek” in which she starred opposite Robert DeNiro.   

Leo recently starred in “Red State” written and directed by Kevin Smith and “Seven Days in Utopia” opposite Robert Duvall and in “Mildred Pierce” the HBO miniseries directed by Todd Haynes in which Melissa stars opposite Kate Winslet.  Leo’s television credits include the current HBO series “Treme” from executive producer David Simon,  and she is known for her groundbreaking portrayal of Detective Kay Howard on “Homicide: Life on the Streets.”

Leo studied Drama at Mount View Theatre School in London, England and later at the SUNY Purchase Acting Program.