Mary Steenburgen Recalls Leaving ‘Puddle’ of Breastmilk on Oscars Stage After Welcoming Daughter Lilly: ‘I Was Freaking Out'

Mar. 15, 2025

Lily McDowell and Mary Steenburgen.Photo:Angela Weiss/Getty

Angela Weiss/Getty

Mary Steenburgenwill never forget the moment she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress — but not for the reason you’d think.

“I was so blessed I won,” the actress. “At the end of the Oscars, everybody that had won was supposed to come out on stage. And so, Bo Goldman, who wrote that beautiful script that we were talking about — we came out together, and I had just had Lilly.”

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Mary Steenburgen and Lilly McDowell.Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage

Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage

Once Steenburgen entered the stage, she recalls, “Suddenly, Lilly needed to be fed. And I could feel the whole brunt of myself. You know, my milk came in. How can I say it other than that?”

The star says she was posing for the picture with the other Oscar winners “and it was all taking way longer than I thought it was going to,” adding “I was freaking out.”

Before she knew it, her breastmilk had formed a “puddle” on the stage. “I said, ‘Bo, oh my God. Look,’ she remembers. “There was a little bit of.. a puddle.”

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Charlie McDowell, Lily Collins, Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson attend the “Windfall” LA Special Screening on March 11, 2022.Charley Gallay/Getty

Charley Gallay/Getty

At the time, Goldman incorrectly assumed that the actress had peed on the floor. “He thought, ‘Jesus. Why did she wet her pants?’ " she recalls to Danson, laughing. “He goes, ‘Why are you so scared? You already won.'”

“I said, ‘I’m not scared. I need to go feed my daughter!'”

She adds that in the photo, “Luckily, you can’t see anything because I put on an antique velvet coat, and it saved me.”

The former couple are also parents to sonCharlie McDowell, 41.

source: people.com