Mikey Madison’s unconventional audition tactic for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’: “I knew I had the role”
After Mikey Madison’s knockout performance in Anora, many film lovers began combing through her filmography for clues and early insights into her genius, with the actor stunning audiences through her portrayal of a New York stripper who finds herself swept up in a marriage with the son of a Russian oligarch.
Since then, audiences have found themselves stumbling across earlier roles that hinted at her dramatic capabilities, proving her to be a hidden talent from the very beginning, something that was not lost on Quentin Tarantino, who cast her in his 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
During the Tarantino feature, Madison makes an appearance towards the climax as Sadie, a member of the Manson Family cult and one of the attackers who is butchered by Cliff Booth, with Tarantino executing his classic twist of historical revisionism as Sharon Tate ends up being saved by her next-door neighbour and his unruly stuntman.
Despite the fact that it is a relatively small role, Madison is truly terrifying as an unhinged and drugged-up maniac intent on executing the perfect killing spree, with Tarantino mocking the members of the cult as Madison’s character is set on fire and burns to death in a Hollywood Hills swimming pool.
However, while she is perfect for the role, launching her to fame after Sean Baker was enamoured by her performance and cast her in his next film, she resorted to surprising lengths for her audition, with Tarantino being swept up by her intense commitment and creativity.
When discussing her audition, Madison said, “I was reading for a part that I was originally cast in and it was a different character. They gave me some sides and they said ‘Quentin will maybe be here but maybe he won’t’ and I thought ‘oh gosh I hope he’ll be here’ because he is still one of my favourite filmmakers. I think he is an absolutely iconic legend and one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met”.
“I remember sitting in the audition room, and it was all glass doors, and I could see everyone who was walking in and going out,” she added. “And I had bought this painting that I had made and I was wearing this very loud sixties outfit, no shoes and I really just committed to it. And I thought ‘maybe I can hide my painting behind the chair so I don’t have to bring it in’ because I felt like this is too much. But then I was like ‘ah screw it, I’ll just do it’. I was 19 and ballsy”.
While some emerging actors might be intimidated by the prospect of being so forthright in an audition with one of their filmmaking heroes, this is what separates Madison from the others and marks her as a true star.
She continued, saying, “I was really painting at the time so I turned my parents garage into a little studio and made this sort of acid trippy painting and I was like well lets go a step further and I sewed a piece of my hair into it and wrote this poem and just presented it to him in a very dramatic fashion and it was fun. You don’t get to do that in auditions. I knew that I had the role because when I walked into the chemistry read it was hanging up and I was like ‘oh that means something’”.
