Melissa Leo 'worked in UK shopping centre'

Oscar-nominated The Fighter star Melissa Leo has revealed that she used to work at a London shopping centre.

The actress, who recently picked up a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Alice Ward in the boxing drama, told Time Out that she made a "terrible" waitress at Brent Cross shopping centre.

She said: "I'm not the brightest girl in the room. I've developed keen instincts and I like the kind of smart I am, but I don't know if there's anything else I could do [apart from acting].

"I was a terrible waitress! I worked in the employee kitchen at the Brent Cross shopping centre in London when it first opened, in the '70s, when I was going to Mountview Theatre School. I was terrible. So when I came back to the States I knew this was what I needed to do."

Asked about her success this awards season, Leo replied: "I'd heard from a lot of people that the Golden Globe was mine, but I didn't want to listen to that. I learned long ago, marching to all those auditions and not getting them, how to prepare myself to have no expectations. So it took me a minute to realise they had actually called my name!

"I'm marching towards the Oscars in much the same way. I've thought I had jobs then ended up home on the couch, so it's this balancing act of not shunning the notion, but not assuming that it's a done deal."

Leo also won a 'Best Actress' Oscar nomination in 2009 for her role in indie drama Frozen River.

> Click here to read our review of The Fighter