Melissa Leo
Acting
136
Acting Credits
Biography
Melissa Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in 1985, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in the Drama Series “All My Children”. Her most notable role as was as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on “Homicide: Life on the Street” for the show's first five seasons from 1993–1997. Following several films, Leo received critical acclaim and national attention in earning several nominations and awards, including an Oscar nom...
Known For
Filmography
Passenger
2026
as Diana Larson
King Ivory
2025
as Ginger Greene
The Knife
2025
as Detective Carlsen
Guns Up
2025
as Michael Temple
The Clean Up Crew
2024
as Siobhan
Long Gone Heroes
2024
as Olivia
AFTER: Poetry Destroys Silence
2024
The Equalizer 3
2023
as Susan Plummer
Bonnie
2022
as Self
Measure of Revenge
2022
as Lillian
Coast
2022
as Olivia
Alone Together
2022
as Deborah
Jane
2022
as Principal Rhodes
Body Brokers
2021
as Dr. White
Thunder Force
2021
as Allie
Ida Red
2021
as Ida ‘Red’ Walker
I Know This Much Is True
2020
as Concettina Ipolita Tempesta 'Ma' Birdsey
Dolly Parton's Heartstrings
2019
as Amelia Meegers
The Ashram
2018
as Chandra
The Equalizer 2
2018
as Susan Plummer
Unlovable
2018
as Maddie
Furlough
2018
as Joan Anderson
The Parting Glass
2018
as Al
Mabel, Mabel Tiger Trainer
2018
as Narrator
The View from Up Here
2017
as Claire
The Most Hated Woman in America
2017
as Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Novitiate
2017
as Reverend Mother
I'm Dying Up Here
2017
as Goldie
London Has Fallen
2016
as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
Burn Country
2016
as Gloria
Snowden
2016
as Laura Poitras
All the Way
2016
as Lady Bird Johnson
The Ever After
2015
as Penny
She's The Best Thing in It
2015
as Self
The Big Short
2015
as Georgia Hale
Damnation: The Flashback
2015
as Noda Marra
After the Spill
2015
as Narrator
The Butterfly, The Harp, and The Timepiece
2015
as Papillon
Wayward Pines
2015
as Nurse Pam
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
2014
as Bette Altmann
Dwegons and Leprechauns
2014
as Grandma Fitz / Butterfly McDweg / Mrs. Fitzgerald
The Equalizer
2014
as Susan Plummer
Broad City
2014
as Lori
BoJack Horseman
2014
as Ma Nguyen (voice)
Charlie Countryman
2013
as Kate
Oblivion
2013
as Sally
Prisoners
2013
as Holly Jones
Olympus Has Fallen
2013
as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
2013
as Robin
Bottled Up
2013
as Fay
The Arsenio Hall Show
2013
as Self
Francine
2012
as Francine
Why Stop Now?
2012
as Penny
Flight
2012
as Ellen Block
Red State
2011
as Sara
The Space Between
2011
as Montine
Seven Days in Utopia
2011
as Lily
The Sea Is All I Know
2011
as Sara
Mildred Pierce
2011
as Lucy Gessler
Welcome to the Rileys
2010
as Lois Riley
Conviction
2010
as Nancy Taylor
The Dry Land
2010
as Martha
The Fighter
2010
as Alice Ward
Queen of the Lot
2010
as Aunt Bee
Treme
2010
as Toni Bernette
Veronika Decides to Die
2009
as Mari
According to Greta
2009
as Karen
Everybody's Fine
2009
as Colleen
Don McKay
2009
as Marie
Dear Lemon Lima
2009
as Mrs. Howard
Stephanie's Image
2009
as Stephanie
True Adolescents
2009
as Sharon Mitchell
Frozen River
2008
as Ray Eddy
Lullaby
2008
as Stephanie
Righteous Kill
2008
as Cheryl
Santa Mesa
2008
as Maggie
The Alphabet Killer
2008
as Kathy Walsh
Black Irish
2007
as Margaret McKay
Racing Daylight
2007
as Sadie / Anna
One Night
2007
as Wendy
Stephanie Daley
2007
as Miri Daley
Midnight Son
2007
as Rita
Hollywood Dreams
2007
as Aunt Bee
The Cake Eaters
2007
as Ceci Kimbrough
I Believe in America
2007
as Soto
Dear Lemon Lima
2007
as Mrs. Howard
Mr. Woodcock
2007
as Sally Jansen
Bomb
2007
The House Is Burning
2006
as Mrs. Miller
The Limbo Room
2006
as KC Collins
Shark
2006
as Elizabeth Rourke
Hide and Seek
2005
as Laura
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
2005
as Rachel
Runaway
2005
as Lisa Adler
American Gun
2005
as Louise
Confess
2005
as Agnes Lessor
Criminal Minds
2005
as Sheriff Georgia Davis
From Other Worlds
2004
as Miriam
Veronica Mars
2004
as Julia Smith
The L Word
2004
as Winnie Mann
21 Grams
2003
as Marianne Jordan
Cold Case
2003
as Tayna Raymes (1994 & 2007)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
as Maureen Curtis
Homicide: The Movie
2000
as Kay Howard
Fear of Fiction
2000
as Sigrid Anderssen
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
as Sybil Perez
The 24 Hour Woman
1999
as Dr. Suzanne Pincus
Code of Ethics
1999
as Jo DeAngelo
Under the bridge
1998
as Kathy
Legacy
1998
as Emma Bradford
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
1997
as Self
Last Summer in the Hamptons
1995
as Trish Axelrod
In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice
1995
as Carol Manning
Garden
1995
as Elizabeth
Scarlett
1994
as Suellen O'Hara Benteen
The Ballad of Little Jo
1993
as Beatrice Grey
Homicide: Life on the Street
1993
as Kay Howard
By a Thread
1992
as Helen
Immaculate Conception
1992
as Hannah
Venice/Venice
1992
as Peggy
Carolina Skeletons
1991
as Cassie
The Bride in Black
1990
as Mary Margaret
Law & Order
1990
as Donna Cheponis
Law & Order
1990
as Defense Attorney Alice Sutton
Law & Order
1990
as Sherri Quinn
Nasty Boys
1989
as Katie Morrissey
The Young Riders
1989
as Emma Shannon
A Time of Destiny
1988
as Josie Larraneta
Deadtime Stories
1986
as Judith 'MaMa' Baer
Streetwalkin'
1985
as Cookie
Always … But Not Forever
1985
as Peggy
Silent Witness
1985
as Patti Mullen
Spenser: For Hire
1985
The Equalizer
1985
as Irina Dzershinsky
I'm Only There...
1984
as Maggie
Miami Vice
1984
as Kathleen Gilfords