Sean Baker reveals the Mikey Madison performance that confirmed ‘Anora’ lead
Sean Baker encountered a challenge every director faces when collecting the perfect cast for Anora: the search for authenticity. As a comedy-drama that tackles themes like sex work and attempts to debilitate stigma surrounding the line of work, Baker knew that his lead actor needed to be someone who could tell the story with a definitively human edge.
The director knew he was a fan of Mikey Madison the moment he saw Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, but it wasn’t until 2022’s Scream that all of the pieces fell together naturally. Watching the movie in the cinema, sitting next to his wife, producer Samantha Quan, he experienced an epiphany.
“I was in the theatre next to [Quan], and I turned to her and I said, ‘We’re calling Mikey’s reps the minute we leave the theatre,’” Baker told Variety. “I just saw in those two roles that she could give me everything I needed for [Anora].”
Anora follows a sex worker living in New York who finds herself married to the son of a Russian oligarch. Once the oligarch’s parents catch wind of the affair, they make it their mission to end it, no matter the cost. Discussing working with Baker, Madison described it as “the most collaborative experience” she had ever been a part of, enabling her to get under the role easily and become involved in the scripting process.
While Baker was writing, he kept in close contact with Madison, and the freedom he allowed her to have with the role materialised as they each had “similar ideals for how we wanted the character to be”. Madison was also offered an intimacy coordinator on set, but she felt that her relationship with Baker and Quan equipped her with everything she needed to feel comfortable.
Baker’s livelihood has centred around bringing similar stories to life for many years. His dedication to representing underrepresented or marginalised groups, like immigrants and sex workers, allows audiences to experience stories with a more overtly compassionate edge. His inspiration for this began after watching exploitation films, with the idea for Anora appearing “over 15 years ago” while working with Karren Karagulian.
However, his interest in sex work would see the project begin to take shape. “I started making films about sex workers,” Baker recalled, “And that sort of worked hand in hand because I was interested in exploring the theme of the power dynamics within the sex work world, and we thought, ‘Oh, perhaps a young sex worker marrying the son of a billionaire would put us in that situation'”.
Anora premiered at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, earning a ten-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening. The film has been praised by several industry directors and leaders, including Greta Gerwig, who described it as “completely truthful and unexpected”.
The film will open in limited release on October 18th.
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