Melissa Leo ('Frozen River')

It's not difficult to see why Frozen River picked up two Oscar nominations earlier this year, and a venerable fan in the form of Quentin Tarantino. Writer/director Courtney Hunt's debut is a bleak, gripping tale of desperation and poverty in the backwoods of America. The film features a stand-out performance from Melissa Leo as a woman who smuggles illegal immigrants across an unpoliced border for quick cash. DS gave star Melissa a call on the set of The Fighter to discuss the movie and her Oscar-nominated performance.

I understand Frozen River started for you as a short film?
"When we did the short I had no idea [director Courtney Hunt] had so much research and information on this story and had always hoped to make a feature of it. Once she'd edited this short and shown it to me, and I had loved playing the character and working with Misty [Upham] and Courtney, she edited it together and sent me a DVD and said, 'Hey, you want to make a feature?' and I said, 'Show me the pages - absolutely!' I finally learnt the character's name - in the short she was just called 'The Blonde' and Lila's character 'The Mohawk'."

Was it difficult to work in the freezing cold conditions?
"The title gives you what to expect for it and we needed the frigid weather - we couldn't forsake that in any way - so we were up right at the border of Canada, northern New York in February/March shooting. I had spent a lot of time in the cold. The crew and Courtney, they were really out there in the cold and it was much more of an ordeal for them. Misty and I got to sit in the car while they were setting up the shots and would turn on the heat for a little while and then turn it off so we didn't get too warm! It was nothing but a pleasure for me - it was certainly very cold but I knew to be prepared and it was a little mind over matter trick, perhaps!"

Your character Ray has to make moral compromises out of desperation. Can you understand her actions?
"I do definitely understand what that is and I think that I sit in a very different place to Ray Eddy. I am acutely aware that Ray Eddy and myself are the relatives of people from other places - it's what makes the vast majority of the United States except the Native Americans, and even they travelled onto this continent at some point. Unbelievable stories of great suffering to come to a new place to live in a way that feels right. I think for Ray Eddy, where your children are concerned, I'm the mother of a 22-year-old boy, it's not something a non-parent can understand but I think almost any parent can - whatever your circumstances you just want better for your children."

Do you think she's fundamentally a good person?
"When an actor walks into a character - whether the audience are going to like or dislike a character, that's the writer and the director's worry - the actor has to sit within the character, so love and understanding and empathy is a necessity for an actor to play a part. I would be making a joke of Ray Eddy if I was sitting there going, 'Oh God - she's really horrendous but here I go!' Again, it's that mind over matter trick where you're not thinking about what's wrong about it it any more than Ray is. When I describe how she's drawn into it I say she's duped into it - she doesn't at first choose to do it - but when she sees the cash dollars she can get in a night doing this, that outweighs the illegality and the immorality that she might see in it."

The film took on an impressive life of its own even before its release. How did you feel when Quentin Tarantino heaped praise on it at the Sundance Festival?
"For me, even the acceptance into the competition at Sundance was remarkable. Then as Courtney and I sat and listened to Quentin Tarantino make this beautiful speech about somebody's movie we looked to each other halfway through and went 'that sounds like a really good movie!' and it was not until he opened the envelope and said Frozen River - it took us a few seconds to go 'oh my God! It's us!' and up we ran."

Was your Oscar nomination a shock to you?
"I have to say it wasn't a complete shock. I have to say that from the very first screening in my living room, and I had Misty and her family come to my house and a few of my friends - a very savvy young director I know - as the final scene played out and the film ended my friend Suzy looked at me and said, 'Oh my God, you're going to get an Oscar nomination, Melissa!' And I went, 'Yeah, right, sure!' Nobody knew for sure but everyone felt I had a shot. It was delightful to hear all these people say this, it was exciting, but I could never sit expecting it would happen. I knew that the role was heads above any other female role that year and that's a lot of that game that never really gets recognised."

Frozen River opens in UK cinemas on Friday.