Desperate times lead to desperate measures

Frozen River: An interview with actress Melissa Leo:

With FROZEN RIVER, Melissa Leo shows us that sometimes a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do.

In the film, Melissa Leo plays Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray's Dodge Spirit.

We caught up with Melissa to chat about the new film and her introduction to the Mohawk cutlure. Melissa talks about working with director Courtney Hunt for the second time around, smuggling immigrants, and being attached to your characters. 

CHECK OUT THE INTERVIEW

Frozen River opens in New York and Los Angeles Friday August 1st

Posted on 08/04/08 by: FCFeatures 05:08 PM