Director Sean Baker was a fan of Mikey Madison ever since he saw her performance in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” but it was not until he saw the actor in 2022’s “Scream” that he knew she was his Anora.
“I was in the theater next to my wife and producer [Samantha Quan], and I turned to her and I said, ‘We’re calling Mikey’s reps the minute we leave the theater,’” Baker explained. “I just saw in those two roles that she could give me everything I needed for [‘Anora’].”
As part of the Variety Studio at the Toronto International Film Festival, sponsored by J.Crew and SharkNinja, Baker and Madison sat down with “Anora” cast members Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan and Yura Borisov to discuss how they brought the Palme d’Or winning film to life.
“Anora” follows a young New York sex worker who…
