Mikey MADISON

With her breakout role as a sex worker, the Anora stay learned much more than how to dance.

BEFORE DIRECTOR SEAN BAKER CREATED THE ROLE that would transform her into "a completely different artist," Mikaela "Mikey" Madison had never attempted to twerk. She was embarrassed at the thought of even trying. "I was like, 'Nothing's going to move!"" she recalls over the din of a hotel bar at the Toronto International Film Festival. But the self-described "very shy, very awkward, not confident" teenage daughter of Los Angeles psychologists had grown into an actress who Baker knew could give the titular Anora the self-possession she needed.

After watching Madison in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and 2022's Scream, The Florida Project director Baker reached out to her with an offer: He had written a film specifically with her in mind. Should she accept, she'd play Anora, aka Ani-a dancer who meets Ivan, the über-rich son of a Russian oligarch, during an average night at the Manhattan gentleman's club where she works. When Ivan hatches a plan to marry Ani in order to secure U.S. citizenship, she's swept into a rags-to-riches romantic fantasy, which soon turns dark.

Madison was enamored with the character immediately. Ani needed to be "different than me, in every single way," she says. Yes, she'd need to twerk. But more than that: To be as comfortable in her body and voice as Ani would be in hers, Madison underwent intensive training, including pole dancing, learning how to give a lap dance, and mastering a Russian accent and a Brooklyn dialect. To better understand Ani's world, Madison read memoirs written by sex workers, watched documentaries and YouTube videos, talked to consultants, and visited strip clubs herself. The result was a powerful transformation; watching Madison as Ani, it appears as though she's been dancing her whole life.