Mikey Madison’s rescue dog, Jam, has the zoomies. The sweet 9-month-old mutt can hardly contain his excitement after the actor’s long day away in December doing press. As Jam settles down next to her in their L.A. home, the conversation turns to the final scene of Madison’s latest film, “Anora,” which has earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress. To date, she’s already garnered 45 wins and 38 nominations for the role from various critics’ groups and other industry bodies.
In Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner, Madison delivers a stunning portrayal of the titular headstrong Brooklyn sex worker whose deceptively cheery Cinderella story unravels over the course of the film. Like all of Baker’s movies—the filmmaker places a great weight on endings—“Anora” resolves on a note that’s both beautiful and haunting.
For most of the film, Ani (the name Anora goes by) keeps her cards close to the vest. But in the richly earned climax, something shifts; she finally cracks emotionally, shedding a single tear. It’s one of the year’s most rewarding cinematic moments. But getting to that point proved more challenging than Madison anticipated.
“I’m playing this character who is pushing everything in. And I unconsciously started to do that myself, which is not how I am in real life. It was frustrating,” she recalls. “I was nervous about that scene. [Whenever I thought about it], I would instantly get a pit in my stomach.”
After witnessing Ani’s journey, which Madison charts with astounding compassion and verve, the actor’s anxious anticipation about the ending is understandable. “Anora” begins as a “Pretty Woman”–esque romp that calls back to classic rom-coms, charting the fateful meeting between Ani, a first-generation Russian American, and Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the carefree son of a Russian oligarch. Their whirlwind romance leads to an impulsive trip to Vegas, where the duo ties the knot.
But everything changes when the groom’s disapproving parents dispatch henchmen Toros (Karren Karagulian), Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan), and Igor (Yura Borisov) to get the marriage annulled. Ivan flees, sparking a search for his whereabouts across New York. Along the way, Ani fights relentlessly to save her marriage, even as Igor finds himself quietly falling for the resilient woman.
In the film’s big-hearted, deeply humanistic ending, the exhausted Ani’s carefully maintained control finally breaks as she sits in a car beside the compassionate Igor. At first, Madison says couldn’t shed a tear no matter how hard she tried. “Ani has all this heartbreak that she hasn’t yet expressed. She’s put on this brave face [despite] how unfairly she has been treated. She’s heartbroken. She knows she’ll have to go back to work. When I got to that scene, I was angry and I didn’t understand why.”
The breakthrough came from something deeply personal: an old voicemail from Madison’s father that she listens to whenever she needs to feel centered. While Baker was sitting in the backseat, she played the message. “The voicemail was left at a time when I was searching for hopefulness, and my dad was trying to give me some of his,” she explains. “Sharing it with other people was vulnerable for me. But it worked and felt truthful to the moment. And that’s the scene.”
Madison is nothing but grateful when she talks about her parents, two psychologists who raised her to have a deep understanding of human behavior. “I am who I am today because of their life philosophy, and I’ve only just started to recognize its exact nuances, [which have taught me] to be curious about people and to be accepting of different kinds of morals and philosophies,” she says.
“It was my choice to go that hard. Bruises are temporary, but Ani’s fight in the film is going to live on forever.”
That inherited perceptiveness and daring proved instrumental when Madison discovered acting. When she was growing up in the San Fernando Valley, she had a deep love of John Hughes films (especially his Molly Ringwald collaborations “Pretty in Pink” and “Sixteen Candles”) and all things River Phoenix, particularly “Stand by Me.” She first dipped her toe into the craft when her mom enrolled her in children’s acting classes.
First came a few shorts and small features. Then she landed a supporting role on Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K.’s FX series “Better Things” as Max, the eldest daughter of actor Sam Fox (Adlon) who’s navigating life post-adolescence. “I learned the beginning of everything on that show,” Madison says. “It was my first big role, my film school.”
Remembering the days when she was starting out, Madison can’t help but laugh. “I’ve had so many weird auditions—like, driving from the Valley to Hollywood for 45 minutes and then just leaving [without auditioning].” She recalls the time that she tried out for a character who had a British accent and decided that she’d speak in dialect not only while reading for the part, but throughout the audition. “Casting was like, ‘Are you British?’ ” she says with a laugh. “I was just trying something, and I didn’t get the part.”
Her persistence paid off when she got her biggest break yet: At the age of 19, she was cast in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 historical-fiction film “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” as Sadie, a member of the notorious Manson Family. This happened only a few years after Madison and her father went to see the director’s “The Hateful Eight” together in NYC, which remains a fond memory for her. “We saw it on film, with an intermission. Tarantino is one of the reasons I fell in love with film; he’s a bucket-list director for me. I was like, God, wouldn’t it be incredible to be in one of his films? I kept that ticket stub in my wallet and carried it around with me every day.”
Madison’s relatively short screen time culminates in Sadie’s brutal death. (“The more gruesome it was, the more excited I was,” she says.) But her unforgettable portrayal and screen presence put her on the map in a big way. “Quentin saw something [in me] and really uplifted me. Everyone on that film was in love with what they were doing, and it’s nice to be surrounded by that. It reinvigorated my love for filmmaking and set the precedent for how [I wanted] to feel moving forward.”
Her next major role came in 2022’s “Scream” as the villainous Amber Freeman. “I always loved horror and I had seen the original ‘Scream,’ but I was quite naive to the scope of its fanbase,” Madison reflects. Thanks to Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s film, she not only became a significant part of an iconic franchise (“It was such a blessing to cut my teeth on something with a bunch of people my age,” she says); she also left a lasting impression on Baker and his producing partner and spouse Samantha Quan. After seeing her performance in “Scream,” the couple essentially created the part of Ani with Madison in mind.
“When I put on Ani’s heels and tight dresses, and I have my hair and makeup done, I walk differently. Ani’s long nails make me move my hands in a different way. I have all this attitude on the tips of my fingers.”
To wholly embody the role, Madison dove deeper into character preparation than she ever had before: She learned Russian, studied dance, and perfected that spot-on Brighton Beach accent. “I worked with a dialect coach. Then I lived in Brighton Beach for about a month and immersed myself in that community. I [wanted to] get the accent to a place where it felt natural.”
Eventually, she felt comfortable enough to take it out for a test drive. “I was ordering coffee in the accent to see if anyone raised an eyebrow, and nobody did. It [became] second nature.”
All that intense training transformed Madison both physically and emotionally. “It gave me a strength that I didn’t have before. I’m more in touch with my body—my sexuality and sensuality,” she says. “When I put on Ani’s heels and tight dresses, and I have my hair and makeup done, I walk differently. Ani’s long nails make me move my hands in a different way. I have all this attitude on the tips of my fingers.”
The authenticity of her portrayal owes much to the generous collaboration of consultants from the sex-work community. “I was trained by a dancer,” Madison explains. “I went to clubs and shadowed several women. They graciously shared their life with me in intimate ways.”
The actor’s work with the film’s chief consultant, Andrea Werhun—whose memoir “Modern Whore” became essential reading—was especially vital to ensuring that Ani’s life rang true. Madison’s training ranged from learning tricks of the trade, like blow-drying the plastic on her pleasers, to knowing what items Anora would carry with her during a shift (“hand sanitizer, gum, lotion”).
Her costar Luna Sofía Miranda, who drew on her own experience as a sex worker to play Ani’s fellow stripper Lulu, created a document of industry-specific language to incorporate into the film. “I’m really grateful to that community, which is a wonderful one,” Madison says.
Mikey Madison as Ani and Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan in “Anora” Courtesy NEON
Careful preparation also went into the film’s most intimate scenes. Madison and Eydelshteyn’s mutual trust—and their trust in Baker—allowed them to bring a lightness to these moments. “All of those physical scenes were a very positive experience for us. They are filled with innocence, in a sense, with laughter, an unserious quality, a goofiness,” the actor explains. “Mark was very thoughtful towards me, and I towards him.”
Their easy rapport formed the story’s emotional core, especially as Eydelshteyn prepared to return home to Russia after filming. “Maybe not seeing him ever again felt real—that heartbreak. It was easy to understand the parallels between that and what Ani is going through.”
Similarly, Madison’s evolving off-camera friendship with Borisov enriched their
characters’ relationship. “When we were shooting that last very vulnerable scene, Yura was there with that trust and love. He is such a soulful person. And he was there to hug me afterwards.”
That same trust proved essential to the film’s most physical scenes, particularly its centerpiece: a real-time sequence in which the three henchmen arrive at Ivan’s mansion to force the couple to annul their marriage, only to find Ani alone. The scuffle that follows, which plays out like a hilarious home invasion, was carefully choreographed—though some room was left for improv. Madison performed her own stunts as Ani kicked, screamed at, and fought her captors.
“At first she thinks she’s going to die; then she realizes that they won’t kill her,” the actor explains. “She’s fighting to save her marriage and the life she’s earned. I never wanted her to stop talking. I wanted her to keep fighting, to get under their skin.” The exhilarating, exhausting shoot left Madison with real bruises. “My legs were black and blue. I had to get to set early to cover them. But it was my choice to go that hard. Bruises are temporary, but Ani’s fight in the film is going to live on forever.”
Despite her deep immersion in the role, Madison insists that she isn’t a Method actor. “I’ve never studied Stanislavsky; I know nothing about it. I would sometimes keep the accent between takes just to keep it more seamless. But I’m not someone who goes through life as her character. I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about what Method acting is; I just bought a book and am interested to read [more] about it.”
Looking ahead, Madison is excited to continue pursuing her career ambitions. She has a clear vision of the directors she wants to work with next, including Alice Rohrwacher. “She has a beautiful perspective on the world. I love Coralie Fargeat, too. And Luca Guadagnino, obviously.”
Above all, the actor just wants to make movies until she’s 100 years old. “I want to [be in] films that make a difference and work with different kinds of creatives from every single country in the world. Acting is where I feel the most passion. But one day, I would love to direct, write, and produce. I am enthralled by the entire process of being on set. I have no idea what the future looks like, but I have lots of dreams.”
This story originally appeared in the Jan. 30 issue of Backstage Magazine.
Photographed by Shayan Asgharnia on 12/17/24 at Dust Studios. Hair by Rena Calhoun. Make-up by Melissa Hernandez. Styling by Jamie Mizrahi. Cover designed by Andy Turnbull.