MIKEY LIKES IT

Anora star Mikey Madison opens up about a dazzling night at the Oscars and her 'surreal' Best Actress triumph

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Heading into awards season, Mikey Madison was a relatively unknown actress. But seemingly overnight, the Los Angeles native has earned her spot among the Hollywood elite, taking home a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Anora.

“It’s exciting and also overwhelming at the same time,” the 25-year-old says of her unexpected victory.

To be fair, Mikey had been honing her craft since she was a teen, appearing in five seasons of TV series Better Things, for instance. And she turned heads in hit films such as Scream V and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, garnering the attention of Anora writer and director Sean Baker, who went on to create the titular character of Ani with Mikey in mind.

Here, fresh off her golden night at the Academy Awards – where her drama about a sex worker’s surprising and volatile romance earned a total of five statuettes – Hollywood’s new “It” girl reflects on her big win and how it could shape her future.

First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be an Oscar winner? Thank you. It feels totally surreal. I’m in shock. I never thought anything like this would happen in my life. My dream was always to be an actress and to make movies. To even be in a movie like Anora is an honour. Everything else has just been a surreal and unexpected blessing.