Mikey Madison Reacts to OSCAR BUZZ for ‘Anora’ After Cannes Win (Exclusive)

Well, let's start with that, because what worlds do you speak of? You saw this with your family last night for the first time, you were just telling me. Well, I just mean like my personal life and then this film that I went off and made that was such an impactful experience for me. And for them to see that, I felt very vulnerable and sensitive. But people have been saying such wonderful things about your work and about all your work and about this film. And last night, the reaction was great. And you had this great reaction in Cannes, obviously, in Toronto. Just put into words what that feels like, because you all put your hearts and souls into this. For people to be saying such wonderful things must feel great every night. I mean, I love the film so much and it's so special to me. So it feels really nice that other people have been enjoying it and loving the film and characters too. And Mark, a film that has so many different things going on where it's so funny and yet there's some real heart in this as well. And some tragedy and some thrills and all that. Just talk about blending all of that day-to-day. How much was obvious from the script or how much did you guys work on that as a team? I don't know. I already can't say what was in the script and what not, because it was some time ago. And on the set, we have this atmosphere of total freedom. We did everything we want. Yes, and we offered something to Sean. And Sean, for every offer, Sean said, yes, yes, it's amazing, it's good. Like you're offering something genius. I felt it really. And he just, yes, yes, it's good, it's good, it's good. And because of it, all the things like, I don't know, slide or flip or something like this, just weren't there. Because of Sean's magic and Sean's atmosphere, he really built it. Did that stuff come naturally to you? Did you do this stuff in real life? Are you sliding and flipping around? Yes, sometimes. For example, here in this hotel, I can do slides on this, you know? All right, well, be careful, yeah. And all you guys were so great and so different, each one of you back there, in terms of the humor. And I felt for each one of you. And there's so much physicality that all five of you have to do in this film. I couldn't even imagine just what went into this. Just talk about that experience of working together as a team. Some of this, especially when we were all together in the same room for, I don't know how many days, to shoot these certain scenes. What was that like for you as actors to play off each other and have those moments as actors? You know, we always say that we're from such different backgrounds. Like, we have different parts of the world, different backgrounds, different acting backgrounds. But for some reason, actually, I shouldn't say for some reason, because of our maestro, Sean Baker, we were able to, kind of every time we hear the word action, we were able to kind of melt together. And whatever energy was projected, you would receive the proper energy back to continue. And I think that is the reason why. We also have developed camaraderie together during the shoot. So I think that's also visible when you watch the film. And there was a lot of love on the set. Kudos to our producers, Alex Koko and Samantha Kwan, and of course, Sean Baker. So things came natural. I mean, it was easy. It was relaxed. We also were given a certain amount of freedom to do what we want, and it was encouraged. So it was a blast. And it's obvious, all these little moments, because you're all such talented actors, what you do in these little quieter moments as well. The certain looks are so genius. Like you, we never know if you're just going to, not to give too much away, you're just going to drop dead at any given moment as we're laughing. So there's that dynamic. And then same with you, with your eyes, you don't know if you're going to spring into something horrible. It's like there's all this great surprise and freshness to every scene. That must have been great for all of you. And then for you, just what is this like in terms of what this can mean for you? Because everyone says such wonderful things. And this could mean the world for you, this movie, in terms of Oscar nominations and other awards and other roles. How much of that have you let yourself think about and kind of live with at this point? I don't really think about that. I mean, the movie is, it already means so much to me and I'm so happy already. So anything else would just be, I don't know. I just take it a week at a time. And right now, my main focus is just getting people to the theatres to see it. How much work for you, all of you actually, in terms of what you had to do, in terms of the dancing, in terms of the Russian, in terms of the physicality? Was there a lot of work involved to prep for this in terms of just getting ready to play these characters? Yes, for me, a lot. Because I did not speak any Russian at all and I had to try to learn as much as I could in a short time and understand what I was saying and have it be clear. So that was very challenging to me because it's a very complicated language. And then the dancing was very physically challenging as well. And yeah, so I tried to just throw myself into as much as I could and dedicate all of my time to researching about my character and studying and physically preparing. And even inhabiting her walk with the heels and things like that was probably... To create this totally new character and person must have been fun for you to live in and work with. I remember those very charming moments when, you know, before the scenes with the Russian language, when Mikey had to say something in Russian, you know, it's like more than an hour before the scene and Mikey just trying to find me. So let's repeat Russian words. Yes, let's do it. And she's doing it very well and said, yes, it's very well. And no, no, no, we have to repeat it one more time and one more time. And after 15 minutes and one more time, we have to repeat it. Я очень люблю русских мальчиков. And I said, yes, it's amazing. No, no, no, I have to do it one more time. And I was shocked. Like, it's very, I don't know, it's very charming. And I felt in that moment how it's important for Mikey. But you nailed it, really. I watched it a second time yesterday and it's really good. Really good, as I said. And for you guys, all the physical stuff, the one big scene that goes on for a while. And I don't know how that was choreographed without anyone actually getting hurt. But just the work that went into getting that right. We're going to start with you. No, Mikey just punched us. Yeah, and we tried to be safe. I don't know how we're alive still, you know. No, it was eight days of shooting this scene. It was very, very long because lots of rehearsal, half-speed rehearsal. And after that, we do it faster and faster. And finally... Very fast. Faster and faster. And I don't know. We're just waiting for a punch of Mikey every take. I like it. They were just waiting for me to punch them and beat them up. Was that cathartic for you? Was that fun to do? Was it hard to do? I wouldn't say it was fun or cathartic. But it was very interesting to experience that. Especially breaking my nose, right? But I will say the scene, we only had one take where I have to kick him through the glass table. One take to get it perfectly right. And I was so nervous about that. And we did it. And it was the most shocking, insane thing that I've ever seen in person. To see someone smash through a table like that. And yeah, that was... I will never forget that image in my head. And that was really you? No. I was wishing to do that, but because of safety. Silly old safety. And the heart you bring to your character. Because you don't know what to expect with this. And you know how tough of a gangster this guy is going to do. But there's a real genuine heart to him. And he's trying to do his job. And he cares about the family and stuff like that. What did you love most about this man? First of all, this is the most important day of his year. Because he's becoming a godfather to this child. And in Armenian culture, when you're asked to be godfather, it's a lot of responsibility, a lot of preparation. The entire community is there, this and that. So all of a sudden, this thing drops on him. That he has to solve the problem in order to take care of his family. He's a family man. And he's very determined to solve the problem. There's a line there that says, I'm going to find him no matter what tonight. And he's under a lot of pressure. I feel sorry for him. He's under so much pressure from his boss, from his wife calling him and nagging him, shaming him that he left the baptism of the ceremony. So yeah, at the end of the day, he's a family man who's trying to survive. And then wrapping me up just quickly, what do you hope people take away from this experience? I don't know. I hope that people come away with, I don't know, just some very strong feeling towards the film in one way or another. Or that it leads to conversation about what the movie means to them.