Best Picture Nominee: Anora

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It – Episode: Best Picture Nominee: Anora

Introduction

In this episode of All Of It, hosted by Alison Stewart on WNYC, the focus is on the critically acclaimed film Anora. The episode spotlights Mikey Madison, an actress known for her role in Better Things, whose performance in Anora has earned her an Oscar nomination. The discussion delves into Madison's immersive preparation for her character, Annie, the intricacies of her performance, and the film's journey in the awards circuit.

Interview with Mikey Madison

Opening Conversation
Alison Stewart introduces Mikey Madison, highlighting her transition from television to a prominent role in Anora. Stewart sets the stage by describing Madison's dedication to embodying Annie, a tenacious sex worker, through intensive research and personal immersion in the film's setting.

Character Development and Collaboration with Sean Baker

When discussing the genesis of her character, Madison shares:

"...when Sean Baker reached out to me, it was kind of out of the blue. I had just had a horror film premiere and he went to see it opening weekend and we had coffee just a handful of days later and he said, hey, here's an idea I have for my next film and if you want to do it. I'll write it for you."
— Mikey Madison (03:23)

Madison elaborates on the collaborative process with director Sean Baker, emphasizing the importance of understanding Annie's inner world:

"...I needed to know everything about her so that if someone were to ask me any kind of question about Annie, I would. I would know I'd be able to answer without any hesitation."
— Mikey Madison (03:34)

Exploring Annie’s Personality and Style

Madison discusses Annie’s fashion choices as a reflection of her character's aspirations and persona:

"I think she's trying to look expensive. So if you're to ask her her favorite designer, she would probably say like Chanel or Prada, because she wants a Chanel bag or she wants a Prada purse... she wears this big, extravagant, expensive fur coat for a lot of the film... it is her dream encompassed into one piece of clothing."
— Mikey Madison (04:16)

Immersive Preparation: Living in Brighton Beach

To authentically portray Annie, Madison relocated to Brighton Beach, immersing herself in the community and the lifestyle of her character. She explains:

"I was able to continue my research into sex work and spend lots of time at the club my character worked at and also just get to understand Brighton beach and... work on the accent, too."
— Mikey Madison (07:13)

Mastering the Accent

Madison reflects on the challenges of adopting Annie’s Brooklyn accent:

"...it was about fine tuning it and adding little details here and there. But I have to say, the accent was something that I think came kind of quickly, and I was able to get to a place really quickly."
— Mikey Madison (09:08)

She emphasizes the importance of making the accent feel natural and lived-in, contrasting it with her own softer speaking style.

Analyzing Key Scenes

Proposal Scene
Alison plays a clip depicting the pivotal moment when Vanya, Annie’s wealthy suitor, proposes marriage. Madison comments on the emotional arc of the scene:

"I think that when he proposes to her, at first she thinks it's a joke and then realizes it's real... she hit the lotto, like they say in the film."
— Mikey Madison (11:13)

Confrontation with Vanya’s Parents
Madison narrates her experience filming a confrontation scene where Annie resists Vanya’s parents' attempts to annul the marriage:

"I did my own stunts in the film, and so it was very tightly choreographed... it was very intense. And I felt safe the whole time, but exhilarating and such a strange experience."
— Mikey Madison (13:04)

She praises her co-star Yura Borisov for his commitment, which heightened the authenticity of the fight scenes.

Filming Experiences and Directorial Approach

Madison discusses director Sean Baker's unique filming style, particularly his preference for dynamic camera work and long takes:

"Sean is the kind of director where he's not a big, like, shot, reverse shot, master shot kind of director. He likes to do things either in one take or... do something really dynamic with the camera."
— Mikey Madison (14:02)

This approach required meticulous choreography and a deep emotional connection to the scenes, enhancing the film's raw and authentic feel.

Oscar Nomination and Personal Reflections

Upon learning about her Oscar nomination, Madison shares a heartfelt moment:

"I was just in a hotel room on FaceTime with my mom and dad and my brother and my dog."
— Mikey Madison (16:03)

She expresses a mix of disbelief and joy, acknowledging the surreal nature of the achievement while appreciating her family's support.

Community and Cultural Impact

Throughout the conversation, Madison underscores the importance of portraying complex, resilient female characters and the cultural conversations they inspire. Her dedication to Annie not only brings depth to the character but also reflects broader societal themes surrounding identity, empowerment, and resilience.

Conclusion

Alison Stewart wraps up the interview by congratulating Mikey Madison on her Oscar nomination and teasing future discussions on Best Picture contenders. The episode offers listeners an in-depth look into the making of Anora, highlighting Mikey Madison's transformative performance and the collaborative spirit behind the film's success.

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Note: All timestamps referenced correspond to the provided transcript and reflect the points at which the quotes were made during the podcast episode.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. You might remember Mikey Madison from Better Things, but now she's a full fledged movie star with a role that earned her an Oscar nomination in Anora, which is also up for best Picture. Let's listen to my conversation with Mikey. And to get us in the mood, here is the song that that starts Honora. In order to play the role of a tenacious sex worker in Anora, actor Mikey Madison immersed herself in the character. She moved to Brighton beach where the movie takes place. She spent time in strip clubs learning about the dancers and their lives. She took pole dancing classes and Russian language classes and mastered a Brooklyn accent. All of this shines through in her Oscar nominated performance as Honora. Annie, as she likes to be known, thinks she has hit the jackpot when she meets a young man at the club. Vanya's the son of a Russian oligarch. He's loaded or his parents are. He parties, he spends a lot of money. He has a certain charm, though, and after spending a few weeks together, he proposes marriage. But this fairy tale comes to a screeching halt when Vanya's parents find out about the marriage. They send some sort of incompetent fixers to try to force an annulment. An annulment Annie is not having. Just this weekend, Anora took home the top prizes from the producer and the Director's Guild of America. And the film is nominated for six Oscars, including best Picture, Best Director for Sean Baker, and Best Actress for my guests, Mikey Madison. Mikey, it's really nice to see you.

[Mikey Madison]

Hi. I'm so happy to be here.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm so glad you're here. I read that Sean Baker started working on the character of Annie with you in mind and you were able to sort of have a collaboration with him. When it first came to you, what did you think?

[Mikey Madison]

Oh, wow. Yeah. Well, when Sean Baker reached out to me, it was kind of out of the blue. I had just had a horror film premiere and he went to see it opening weekend and we had coffee just a handful of days later and he said, hey, here's an idea I have for my next film and if you want to do it. I'll write it for you. And so the process from there was very collaborative, but I really knew very little about the character or what she would be like. It was just us kind of confirming that we would love to work with each other.

[Alison Stewart]

When you're thinking about Annie now and you're thinking about her family and her backstory, we don't know that much about Annie. Did you know? Did you know about Annie's backstory? Was it in your mind?

[Mikey Madison]

Oh, yeah, of course. You know, I mean, I think every actor's process is different, but for me, that felt like something that was absolutely necessary is to know who my character is inside and out and obviously still leave room to constantly be able to discover more. But I needed to know everything about her so that if someone were to ask me any kind of question about Annie, I would. I would know I'd be able to answer without any hesitation. So I certainly asked myself lots of questions about who she is. And, you know, I had months and months to develop her.

[Alison Stewart]

Who's Annie's favorite designer?

[Mikey Madison]

Well, I mean, you know, it's interesting because I bought some of my character's clothes for her in Brighton beach, and I definitely got a little bit ripped off. But, you know, her clothing is such an important reflection of who she is, and she definitely dresses a certain way to present certain sides of her. And so I think that the way that she dresses, I think she's trying to look expensive. So if you're to ask her her favorite designer, she would probably say like Chanel or Prada, because she wants a Chanel bag or she wants a Prada. Prada purse, you know, and I think that's really mirrored because she wears this big, extravagant, expensive fur coat for a lot of the film, which is gifted to her by her new husband. And to her, I think that coat, even though it's so. It's such a grand display. It's extra. Yes, extra. That's the perfect word for it. She wears it because to her, it's like that is her dream encompassed into one piece of clothing. So long answer to your question, but no.

[Alison Stewart]

That's an excellent public radio answer.

[Mikey Madison]

Oh, okay, good.

[Alison Stewart]

It's funny, you're sort of a soft spoken person, and Annie is not. She's the opposite. But that's your job, right? To get into somebody, to get into their personality and to believe those things about them. When you think about Annie, what do you admire?

[Mikey Madison]

Oh, I mean, playing this character, I just. I fell in love with her as a character, and I think the biggest thing for me when playing someone is I completely have to be able to empathize with them. And so when she's going through her journey of what she goes through throughout this film, a lot of it is quite heartbreaking and unfair and difficult, and I was feeling all of those things. But I think throughout everything she goes through in the film, she maintains this level of hopefulness, which I really admire about her. She also has this incredible fighting spirit that I love. She is a true fighter in many different ways. I mean, physically, yes, she's a fighter. She's scrappy, but she's. She's an emotional fighter. Like, she is willing to fight for the life she believes is rightfully hers. And that's something that I really love about her. I definitely think that that's kind of an envious quality. There's been certainly times in my life where I wish I stood up for myself more. And I do love that about her, is that she stands up for herself.

[Alison Stewart]

You decided to live in Brighton beach in preparation for this role. What were you hoping to learn by moving into the neighborhood?

[Mikey Madison]

I don't know what I was hoping for. I just thought, you know, why don't I try this out? I've never played a character like Annie before. I've never quite done this amount of research and preparation. And so I was given an opportunity to go to Brighton beach early and immerse myself in that community and go to all the New York clubs and shadow dancers. And I was like, I think this is something I need to do. I think this is gonna be an interesting experience, because when would I have an opportunity to live in Brighton Beach? And I also think this will be good for the character. And so I was able to continue my research into sex work and spend lots of time at the club my character worked at and also just get to understand Brighton beach and. And work on the accent, too.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk about the accent. First of all, let's play a clip so people can hear you being Annie. This is from Lenora.

[Mikey Madison]

No, I know Annie.

[Vanya]

I got a kid who wants someone who speaks Russian.

[Mikey Madison]

You know, Jimmy, the girls and I have been talking, and if your cousin doesn't start showing us some respect, we're not gonna tip out anymore.

[Vanya]

All right, I'll talk to him.

[Alison Stewart]

Who are you talking about? The dj.

[Vanya]

All right, Seriously, he's an.

[Mikey Madison]

I shared my playlist with him, and he was very rude and dismissive.

[Vanya]

You're killing me. Let's go. Come on.

[Mikey Madison]

No, I'm eating my food.

[Alison Stewart]

I Love the way you're up with the fork in his face. What was hard to nail about the accent?

[Mikey Madison]

Well, first of all, I think that's the only clip where there isn't cursing. Gosh, the accent. I mean, I only done an accent one time before, and so I think at first it was just trying to find the place where the accent sort of resonates in me.

[Alison Stewart]

Sure.

[Mikey Madison]

And also just get to a point where it's very natural. I'm not searching for the words that it's able to just come out in a way that feels very lived in and honest. You know, my voice kind of like resides up the top of my head, and it kind of floats. Floats pretty high up. And her. Her voice is a little bit more deeper. I. I think it resonates in a different place. Excuse me. And so it was just about fine tuning it and adding little details here and there. But I have to say, the accent was something that I think came kind of quickly, and I was able to get to a place really quickly. I wouldn't say that definitely wasn't the hardest part of building the character, but a very important one.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's listen to a scene where he proposes. Okay. She doesn't believe him at first, but he starts to confess. Convince her. Let's listen to a little bit scene and talk about on their side. This scene, you'll hear Vanya speak in Russian. This is menorah.

[Mikey Madison]

Stop, stop, stop.

[Jimmy]

Annie.

[Mikey Madison]

Yeah?

[Jimmy]

Will you marry me?

[Mikey Madison]

Seriously? Seriously. Mm. So you want to get married to me, Vanya? You want me to be your little wifey? Yeah.

[Jimmy]

Yes. I just think that we had great time together, and I will become American and my parents.

[Mikey Madison]

Are you serious?

[Jimmy]

I am serious, and I said it wisely.

[Alison Stewart]

It's interesting. That scene has a beginning, a middle and end. You really get to see her arc. How she doesn't believe him, but maybe she does, right?

[Mikey Madison]

Yeah. Excuse me. I was laughing at the bleeding. I wonder how many times a cuss word appears in this film. Someone should count because it's a drinking game. It's gotta be up there a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, gosh, this scene, I really love this scene. And I love that Yvonne says twicely. It's so charming to me. But no, I mean, I think that when he proposes to her, at first she thinks it's a joke and then realizes it's real. And it's like. I think even up until they run into the chapel, she probably still thinks maybe it's a joke. And then it actually happens, and it's like, well, why not? Like, let's have this fun adventure. I want to be married to this guy. This is, you know, she hit the lotto, like they say in the film. So, yeah, no, it's. It's an interesting scene, and it's a little bit quieter, too. It's a more vulnerable, private scene, I think, that you get to see with them. And, you know, there's a lot of chaos in this film, which I love. And our director, Sean Baker, does so well and with so much humor and incredible characters. But it's nice, I think, in the film where you have a scene just with two people like that and talking. And so, yeah, I liked filming that scene.

[Alison Stewart]

These men show up, they have to get the marriage annulled. Annie is a fighter, as we've talked about.

[Mikey Madison]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

The men show up, she's a little scared, and then she's not scared. I'm curious, what did the script say in the scene where you fight these big men?

[Mikey Madison]

Well, I mean, I remember reading it and, you know, you read something like that and you're like, oh, fun. Okay. Yeah.

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[Mikey Madison]

Wow. Wow. This happens and then this, and. And then you actually film it. And it's an entirely different experience because I did my own stunts in the film, and so it was very tightly choreographed, but to actually film it was. Was a very intense. And I mean, just to. Just to preface, I felt safe the whole time, but, I mean, so exhilarating and such a strange experience. I've done many fight scenes in my career thus far, but nothing compares to that. I mean. Yeah, wow. Sorry, I'm just. I'm being transported back.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. What? Give me an example of during the choreography, something. One moment in the film when you thought like, oh, this is how they're gonna do this.

[Mikey Madison]

Well, you know, Sean is the kind of director where he's not a big, like, shot, reverse shot, master shot kind of director. He likes to do things either in one take or, you know, do something really dynamic with the camera. And so a lot of those fight sequences are just kind of one long take. And so, you know, we had to tightly choreograph that ourselves. I think Sean and I and two of the producers and Yura just kind of went into the mansion and figured out how to get from one living room to the next and how we should use the space as best as possible. And we would just kind of go through it half speed, really, really slow. And Sean would be like, oh, it'd be great if you could knock this lamp over or, oh, There's a vase here. If you could somehow kick that with your foot, that would be wonderful. And. And, you know, you do it half speed, but then it's like, okay, now it's time to actually shoot this thing. And nothing really can prepare you for that.

[Alison Stewart]

Sure.

[Mikey Madison]

I think you just have to get yourself to that emotional moment. Whatever the character is feeling, whatever kind of frenetic energy you need to build up inside yourself and just shoot it. But I had a wonderful scene partner, Yura Borisov, who. Yeah, he's just wonderful. And he. He kind of inspired me because he's just. He's a very committed actor and he wanted to do everything too. And so he wanted it to feel as real as possible, and I really loved that. And it kind of pushed me to want to, you know, fight even harder.

[Alison Stewart]

And you filmed in a house? Yes.

[Mikey Madison]

Yeah, we filmed in a beautiful mansion in Brighton beach on the water. So beautiful. It was actually owned by, I think, a real Russian oligarch, so it was pretty perfect.

[Alison Stewart]

Somebody said, you can see that house from the belt.

[Mikey Madison]

Oh, really?

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. There you go. Where were you when you found out you were nominated for an Oscar?

[Mikey Madison]

I was just in a hotel room on FaceTime with my mom and dad and my brother and my dog. And. Your dog? Yeah, why not? My mom has been taking care of my dog when I travel because he's really, really naughty, and so she's taking care of him. And he was also there earlier when you said Oscar nominee Mikey Madison, I was like, oh, wow. I think it doesn't quite feel real yet. Sometimes it does and then sometimes it doesn't, if you know what I mean.

[Alison Stewart]

We got a really nice text that says, moms of a certain age who loved better things are thrilled to see this talented young actress soar to great heights. Congratulations, Mikey Madison.

[Mikey Madison]

Aw, that's so sweet.

[Alison Stewart]

The name of the film is Enora. Mikey, thanks for being here.

[Mikey Madison]

Thank you so much.

[Alison Stewart]

And that's all of it for this hour. We'll have more Best Picture conversations after the break. Stay with us.

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