Melissa Leo chats 'The Fighter'

After scooping an Oscar nomination for Frozen River playing a woman who smuggles immigrants into the US to make a fast buck, Melissa Leo scored a sought-after role in David O. Russell's The Fighter. In it, she plays the mother of Boston boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and trainer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). DS recently caught up with Melissa, who spoke enthusiastically about the sports drama and compared Wahlberg and Bale to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Are Mark and Christian quite intense actors to work with?
"In very opposite ways. A few years ago I had a very blessed experience of being on the set of Righteous Kill and watching Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, two all-time heroes. The way they approach a role could not be further than the North and South Pole and it's kind of the same with Mark and Christian. Mark works in a very quiet, internal way. The subtlety of his performance, the depth of his performance is undeniable. I've also watched Christian meet the fellow that he's playing, Dicky Eklund, and take him on with every molecule of his body. It has been a stunning transformation. Intense, yes, but in very different ways."

Mark has spoken about this being his passion project, do you think this is going to be one of his best performances?
"This is the third group they've gathered together to do this film, they had two different directors, I'm not sure what the issues were that made it fall out every time but Mark has been in constant physical training for it. He has a boxing gym set up in his house in LA and has been working with his entourage of people training and training and training for it. That is a thrilling part of it to be here while he's getting his dream finally realised. Dicky Eklund, Mickey Ward, Alice Ward, they're all here with us and for them, too, it's an astonishing moment."

Everyone connects boxing films with Raging Bull, will David O. Russell bring a fresh element to it?
"I think that's a major blessing on the film. David has worked and worked to hone this script from a 30-year story to a much less expensive to shoot three-year tale that is just all the history of them and the very complicated story of this extraordinary boxing talent. That mind of his is awesome to watch at work and he does shoot in a very [chaotic] way, you have to work very hard to stay with David, but the key to success is to trust that man, he knows what he's doing."

He has a reputation as being quite volatile on set. Have you seen any of that?
"I don't think it's volatility. It's an absolute, utter commitment to it. Filmmaking is about having a very, very clear and tidy blueprint that you can turn 180 degrees and still make it work. David is constantly flipping it 180 and that can indeed be frustrating. It's much easier to walk a very clear, clean path, but I think it makes it a much more interesting film if you can go with your captain! These are rough seas, we're shooting boxing matches with seven cameras going! It's just a question of being able to keep up with him."

> Click here to read our Frozen River interview with Melissa Leo