Melissa Leo finally got (and made the most of) a chance to shine in Frozen River

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of speaking for about an hour with the veteran actress Melissa Leo, who is currently garnering the best notices of her 25-year screen career—including one from yours truly—for her starring performance in the indie standout Frozen River (Sony Pictures Classics, trailer). We discussed, among other things, her acting technique; her groundbreaking role on television's Homicide (1993-1997); the parts she's played in two extraordinary films written by Guillermo Arriaga, 21 Grams (2003) and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005); and, of course, the unlikely, years-long journey on which she has traveled with Frozen River: from short, to feature, to Sundance-darling (juror Quentin Tarantino said "It took my breath away"), to art-house hit, to the center of a blogosphere controversy, to the thick of the Oscar race. The full transcript will post soon; in the meantime, you can listen to 10 audio highlights below...