The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Mikey Madison prepared for Anora by researching the lives and work of dancers and sex workers, training in pole and lap dancing, and building a detailed performance around Ani’s particular story. She has stressed that Ani is one person—not a stand-in for every sex worker.
How Madison researched the role
Before preparing for Ani, Madison said she had never been to a strip club. She told BFI’s Sight and Sound that she read memoirs, visited clubs, and spoke with dancers and sex workers. “I went into my research without any preconceived notions,” she said in an interview published on 11 October 2024. Read the BFI interview.
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At the Toronto International Film Festival, Madison also described meeting consultants who spoke with her about club work, dancing, lap dances, and their personal lives. She said she read memoirs and watched documentaries as part of her preparation. TheWrap’s TIFF interview records her emphasis on learning before making choices about Ani.
Why Ani is not meant to represent everyone
Madison said her aim was to portray an individual rather than offer a universal account of sex work. “It was important that we were not telling a universal sex worker story. It’s just one person, and so I wanted it to be specific to her story, because I think everyone’s experience is different,” she told TheWrap.
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That distinction matters: the film gives viewers one fictional character, not a survey of sex workers’ lives. Madison described Ani simply as a person whose job is sex work: “She’s a sex worker, but that’s just her job,” she told ELLE. “She’s a person, and I hope she’s viewed as such.” Read Madison’s ELLE interview.
Training the physical performance and voice
Madison trained in pole dancing and lap dancing for the role, according to ELLE, and worked on both a Russian accent and a Brooklyn dialect. In a February 2025 Q&A, director Sean Baker said Madison learned pages of Russian dialogue and took months of pole-dancing classes. Baker also said she performed her own stunts in the home-invasion scene. Those additional details are Baker’s account of her preparation. See the National Board of Review Q&A.
Finding the vulnerability beneath Ani’s defenses
Madison portrayed Ani as forceful and guarded, with vulnerability beneath her quickness and anger. In the National Board of Review Q&A, she explained why she wanted that interior life to come through: “Because nobody is just angry or wanting to fight—there’s pain underneath that.” The physical confidence and verbal edge are part of Ani’s way of moving through the world, not all there is to her.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the film approached intimate scenes
Madison told BFI that she and co-star Mark Eydelshteyn suggested ideas while blocking scenes, while Baker and producer Samantha Quan demonstrated how the action would look in frame while fully clothed. Baker separately told The Irish Times that actors could opt for an intimacy coordinator and described the blocking as collaborative. These are accounts of how this production worked, not claims about standard practice across film sets. Read Baker’s Irish Times interview.
Rank #3
- Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, Yura Borisov
What Anora’s recognition says—and does not say
Anora won the 2024 Cannes Palme d’Or. The Associated Press reported that Baker dedicated the award to “all sex workers, past, present and future,” connecting the film’s recognition to his continuing interest in stories involving sex workers. Read the Associated Press report. The award and Baker’s stated intent offer context for the film; they do not make Ani representative of the varied experiences of real people.
Quick Recap
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