Mikey Madison
Meet the star of Sean Baker’s mysterious new movie Anora
Mikey Madison says the call from Sean Baker came entirely out of the blue. “I guess he’d seen a horror film I did, Scream [2022], on the opening weekend, and decided to call my agent the very next day. I met him and Samantha Quan, his producing partner, for coffee, and they pitched me this amazing, crazy idea he had for a film. I was floored that he wanted to do this film with me, but I didn’t question it. I was like, ‘Yes, absolutely!’”
They worked on the project for a year before shooting started. Madison, however, is reluctant to spoil the surprise. “What I will say is that it’s different than any character I’ve ever played before, in every single way. It was definitely the most preparation, physically and emotionally I’ve ever done for a character, because Sean likes to mix professional actors with newcomers, and I wanted to be so confident and sure of who I was that I would fit into that environment in an honest and truthful way.”
If the name sounds familiar, you may recall the 25-year-old from the FX comedy Better Things, in which, over seven years, she played “an amalgamation of all of the creators’ daughters”. It was, she says, “like my acting class, my college and my home-school all in one because I didn’t go to college.” After that, you will most likely have seen her as the Manson
Family’s Susan Atkins in Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. “Working with Quentin was so reinvigorating,” she enthuses. “I was like, ‘Fuck, I’m 19. This is my first big movie. What am I supposed to do next? Nothing is ever going to be as special as this.’ I mean, he’s one of my heroes and one of the reasons I wanted to be an actress.”
After Anora, you’ll seen her alongside Natalie Portman in a new Apple TV+ show Lady in the Lake. “I read that character, and I felt such a pull towards her that I begged the director to cast me in it,” she says. “I think if I feel like I have to be in a movie, to me, that’s a sign that I should definitely do it. It’s not good to feel wishywashy.”