She also opens up about why she famously dropped an f-bomb accepting the award: “I f---ing curse all the time, but you cannot curse on network television.”

Melissa Leo says winning an Oscar wasn’t good for her career: ‘I never wanted it’

She also opens up about why she famously dropped an f-bomb accepting the award: "I f---ing curse all the time, but you cannot curse on network television."

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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January 16, 2026 6:49 p.m. ET

Melissa Leo accepts award onstage during the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Credit:

Michael Caulfield/WireImage

Apparently, Melissa Leo would *not* like to thank the Academy.

The actress, who won Best Supporting Actress for *The Fighter* back in 2011, is sharing her brutally honest thoughts about her win, including that she believes it's had a negative impact on her career.

"Winning an Oscar has not been good for me or my career," she said recently in a reader Q&A with *The Guardian*, adding, "I didn’t dream of it, I never wanted it, and I had a much better career before I won."

Leo made the remarks in response to a fan question asking, "What goes through your mind when you stand up to receive an Oscar?"

"One loses one’s mind," she said in response. "I had won a lot of prestigious awards for *The Fighter* that season, and sat in that great gigantic theater 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."

Melissa Leo arrives at the 2024 Governors Awards.

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

She continued, "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."

Leo is referring to herself dropping the f-bomb on stage while accepting the honor in 2011. "Yeah, I am kind of speechless. When I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so f---ing easy,” she said at the time, referring to Kate Winslet, who had won Best Actress for *The Reader* two years prior.

In *The Guardian*, she clarified with a few more f-bombs, saying, "I f---ing curse all the time, but you cannot curse on network television. Thank God for the 10-second delay, which was introduced for f---ing idiots like me."

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Leo isn't the only Oscar winner to say publicly that the honor may not be all it's cracked up to be. Marcia Gay Harden, who won Best Supporting Actress for the 2000 movie *Pollock*, told the *Los Angeles Times* in 2003 that the award was "disastrous on a professional level."

“Suddenly the parts you’re offered and the money become smaller. There’s no logic to it,” she added.

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