ALASDAIR DUNCAN: I’ve heard you say that these days, you don’t always have to audition for parts, as you’re approached directly by filmmakers – is that what happened with Red State?

MELISSA LEO: I was approached to play the character. Kevin paid me a very high compliment, saying that my accepting the role and being a part of the film would show everyone he was making a serious movie. I felt that denoted an understanding of my acting and a respect of it, and I was very happy to come on board.

AD: How does it feel to be told that you coming on to a project makes it serious?

ML: Well, if anything, it’s a bit of a problem how seriously I take my silly old work!

AD: The interesting thing about Red State is that it draws on real life for its horror – I’d like to know, what was it that attracted you to the film?

ML: Well, I try not to judge. It’s not about the filmmaker and whether or not they’ll be my best friend, and it’s not about whether or not I agree with what the character is or isn’t doing. I’ll ask myself, is she grounded, does she make sense, are we telling her story, or at least an interesting story? When I arrive on set, I’m very conscious that I’m making the filmmaker’s film – there’s a long distance between the words that are written on the page and the film that is eventually made.

AD: Your character Sara does some pretty dreadful things over the course of the film – is it a challenge as an actor to find the humanity in a character like that?

ML: People have reasons they do things. Sometimes those reasons are bad, but they exist. People will say to themselves, I am doing the right thing, because this is what I know and believe. If you find the heart of a character, you can help the filmmaker make their story, because you are the character – you’re not judging them, or coddling them.

AD: Red State was Kevin Smith’s first time directing a movie other than a comedy – what was it like working with him on the film?

ML: It was like he had never directed a film before. There was a lot that he knew, there was a grace and a kindness and a beauty in Kevin, but I’ve been on a lot of film sets – big ones, little ones and in-between – and I’ve watched a lot of directors orchestrate the collaborative art of film. The best directors know what all the members of the ensemble can do, and respect and work with them all. There are many successful filmmakers of about Kevin Smith’s age who are one-man-bands – they do really interesting things with the medium of film, but they limit themselves because of their limited knowledge about what the collective of filmmakers has discovered over the years. Kevin knows film from watching film. Somebody like Todd Haynes, who directed me in Mildred Pierce, knows film from being on film sets. He knows what all the players are doing, he’s in control. There are lots of these one-man-band filmmakers who have made funny, successful movies, but there’s a casual element to the way they play around in what I would consider to be a high, holy church.

AD: When it comes to Kevin Smith, I’ve heard he’s the kind of director who’s very willing to let his actors play, and find their way into a scene like that ...

ML: Absolutely, and he had good intentions. He really wanted us to come and to play, but based on my experience, he didn’t really know how to let us do that. It might have to do with my genitalia, I’m sorry to say. I love him – can I just say that? I love Kevin Smith, but that was my experience working with him, is that there was an intention to play, but not an understanding of what might help us have more fun playing.

AD: Are there any specific instances you can think of where that was a problem?

ML: He allowed a single actor to control his set, which made it very difficult – everyone else had to work twice as hard, because one actor was making himself the centre of attention. A director who knew what was going on might have caught that early and nipped it in the bud, and made an ensemble out of us. The director’s job is to get a group of people who may not like each-other to do the work together.

AD: That’s interesting – so are you saying you didn’t feel like you were part of an ensemble when you were making the film?

ML: I was very close to a few of the players, Betty Aberlin in particular, but there was a divide-and-conquer actor among us, and divide-and-conquer he did. It was quite difficult in some ways, because I went through a lot of my scenes not really understanding what Kevin was asking of me. I want to be guided and directed by a director, and make his film for him. My performance as Sara feels far more incomplete to me than what I would consider to be my better work.

AD: I suppose the key scene with Sara is when she lures the three young men to her trailer for what turns out to be a sinister purpose – what was it like working on that scene?

ML: That was a joy, because of those three boys and their energy and enthusiasm. One of them, Michael Angarano, had played my son in a previous film, so it was very funny for us actors, with all our various relationships and the way we play, to find our characters together. To have those three beautiful boys making very sexy advances my way for a couple of afternoons was a laugh and a half. They’re delightful, the three of them. But again, things were a little unclear – I’d constantly be asking Kevin, okay, you want me to stand where and do what?

AD: Were you able to voice your concerns on set?

ML: I tried to. I tried to talk to him to understand better where he was coming from, but he has his way, and he’s been successful in the way he makes movies, so what do I know?

AD: That has to be very frustrating.

ML: It is, but you know, it’s not my movie, and I was still proud to be a part of it. I’m really glad I met Betty Aberlin!

AD: Even so, knowing the quality of the work you’ve done in the past, it must be frustrating thinking you could have done more?

ML: Well, a lot of actors walk away from a lot of what they do saying woulda coulda shoulda. To know, while you’re working, that there is something that is mediocre, that’s frustrating. Not having enough information is frustrating. Sometimes, there are enough other things in the mix – the hair, the make-up, the costumes, the setting – that illuminate things. I remember working for Tommy Lee Jones on The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, there were several occasions where I didn’t understand why he was telling me to stand in a certain place or do a certain thing, but when watching the film, it all made complete sense. With Kevin, as I sought to understand Sara for him, it only seemed like I was making it more complicated. He didn’t know how to answer those questions for an actor. I don’t know. It’s a long, long conversation.

 AD: When you were on Jimmy Kimmel, you mentioned that your mother likes to see all your work and always comments on it – what did she make of Red State?

ML: Well, my mother had a little cancer on her brain, and has not seen as much of my work lately. There are always things of mine she’s seen and she’s said ‘oh, I don’t like that!’ Anything with violence and killing gets that reaction. She’d never shy away from telling me she didn’t like something. She’s always loved my work and what I do, but I thought about it and I decided that Red State, with the violence and the complicated storytelling that jumps around, is a little too much for her to try and understand and deal with at this point. There’s a very close friend of my mother’s that I’m also very close with, and she loved the film. She loved John Goodman’s character especially.

AD: John Goodman played your husband in Treme, and he showed up again in Red State, so it must have been quite nice to have that reunion with him.

ML: You don’t know the half of it! As I’ve made quite clear, it was a difficult set to be on sometimes, and the only way I could lighten the mood sometimes was to say ‘just wait til my husband gets here!’ It was lovely to be able to spend a few days working with him. He’ll be a friend for life, and he’s a husband in my heart. What fun that year was on Treme.

AD: There’s going to be a third season of Treme, right?

ML: I’m getting ready – we’re going to shoot the third season in November. Have you seen it? It’s a beautiful show about New Orleans post-Katrina, with an amazing cast and beautiful storytelling.

AD: I’ve only seen the first season so far, but I like the unconventional way that Treme tells stories – it shows rather than telling, which is rare.

ML: Yes, it’s an unconventional show in this day and age in that the storytelling is more slow-paced. Each week, you learn a little bit about the characters, then you come back the next week and learn a little bit more. Because we have all our fancy equipment now, it’s the kind of show where it’s great to be able to get the first season and gobble it down in a weekend, then gets the next season the next weekend and gobble that down.

AD: You won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Fighter earlier this year – I’m curious to know, how has that changed things for you?

ML: Well, I have this job on Treme, so I have work – I go back in November for nine months. It’s great to have that security. The biggest change has been in terms of self-respect. I’m really grateful to be recognised as a peer in my field. That makes me feel better about myself than I ever imagined I could, and it’s given me new strength and courage to go forward to the next phase of my career.

AD: I really want to ask about your character, Kay, in the show Homicide. I remember her most for the costumes she wore, like the men’s shirts and ties ...

ML: Oh, yes!

AD: Did you have a lot of influence in shaping the character’s look, in terms of the outfits and the hair and things like that?

ML: Well, I got fired for it eventually. The network didn’t like the hair, they didn’t like the lack of makeup, and most of all, they didn’t like the neckties. I realised I had a chance to appear on network television in the United States without makeup, and I just had to take it. I’d worked for years in television with men who went in front of the cameras without makeup, and saw an opportunity there. Then there’s the hair. I asked the director Barry Levinson if I should cut it, and he said, hey, if I had that hair, I’d wear it down all the time! I always wore Kay’s hair down after that as a tribute to Barry. If the character went out on a call, she’d tie it up in a knot. Our costume designer got me some Armani that we mismatched, and it’s some of the best clothing I’ve ever worn.

AD: Kay was such a memorable character – I didn’t know you were fired.

ML: I’ve been fired a couple of times in television, and it’s always been for appearance things like that, to make way for ladies in sweaters and short skirts with larger breasts than mine. It seems to be changing, though. I’m very proud of Kyra Sedgewick and Holly Hunter, who have played police women in very interesting ways in recent years. Kay was a big part of my life, and it touches me that she was a part of so many other people’s lives, too.

RED STATE opens in cinemas Thursday Oct 13, rating TBC. www.redstate.com.au

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