It’s no wonder Mikey Madison is busy deep cleaning her home. After spending much of 2024 on the road with her breakthrough film Anora and running the gauntlet of awards season in early 2025, Madison is finally spending some more time in her hometown of Los Angeles. In the coming weeks, every little bit of Zen will count.

“I think there’s something to be said about returning to your own space and a place where you feel comfortable and safe,” says Madison. “And my home is definitely that for me, so I’ve been frantically reorganizing and cleaning and tidying and all that stuff because it’s important.”

“Anora” first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, where it won the Palme d’Or and catapulted Madison into an awards conversation that has only gained momentum since. Madison is nominated for a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and will receive the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards and the Breakthrough Performance Award at the National Board of Review on Friday at the Tuesday gala.

“I can’t believe this was the same year,” says Madison, who is 25. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot in some ways, which is interesting.” I’ve been able to travel to many different countries and show our film to different audiences. I feel lucky to have had this experience – it was definitely not what I expected, so overall it was a very pleasant surprise.”

“Anora” is the story of a sex worker in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, named Anora (Ani for short), who enters into a tempestuous marriage with the son of a Russian oligarch. Director Sean Baker, known for “The Florida Project,” “Tangerine” and “Red Rocket,” wrote the script with Madison in mind after portraying her as a member of the Manson Family in the Quentin Tarantino film “Once Upon a Time in “I had seen Hollywood.”

When it was introduced to her, the plot was still a loose idea, more like a “Russian gangster story” about a woman who marries the wrong man. Although Madison didn’t know much about the character, she was immediately interested in the possibility of working with Baker.

“I felt like I would love any character he wrote because I loved him as a filmmaker,” she says.

When Ani wore out, Madison moved to Brighton Beach, learned both the Brooklyn accent and Russian, and learned to dance.

“I had never had the opportunity to completely change myself in this way before. “No director had ever seen me like that and given me the opportunity to play a character that was different than any other character I had ever played,” she says. “And so I put a lot of pressure on myself to really push myself and get the work done. I spent all my time on this. But I loved everything about Ani. I was excited to research her work. I was excited to create her personal life and backstory, her morals, who she is as a person, learning Russian and speaking this different dialect, all new to me. I saw it as a challenge and a unique opportunity.”

Before becoming an actress, Madison was a competitive equestrian. Her mother and grandmother were equestrians before her, and the sport was “all I knew,” Madison says. About a decade ago, she reached a turning point where she felt like she was “looking for something different,” which coincided with a growing interest in film thanks to her film-loving father.

“I longed for connection on a deeper level, and I think that manifested itself in me being an actress,” she says.

Competitive riding requires dedication and commitment, which is easy to see in Madison’s work.

“Riding, at least competitive riding, requires a lot of dedication. You can’t do this once a month. You need to develop your skills. You have to develop your muscles, you have to create a connection with the animal you are working with,” she says of the sport. “I took the commitment and work ethic I received and incorporated it into my work as an actor. I’m constantly trying to grow and develop every day.”

In her decade-plus acting career, Madison has gained recognition for characters such as sassy teenager Max in Better Things, Susan Atkins in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Amber Freeman in Scream Acquired in 2022.

“I’ve been able to play some really bold, vibrant characters in my career so far,” she says of the roles. “There’s probably a reason I was cast in these particular roles, and I think it’s a part of me that feels free to express all these emotions and these different versions of myself through the eyes of a character with a certain security to experience the net beneath me.”

Describing herself as a shy teenager, she says she believes she will always be shy in some ways, despite building a resume of such powerful performances.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed more and more into myself. I know who I am. I’m confident in who this person is,” Madison says. “And so I think the shyness kind of disappeared from there because I think my shyness growing up came from a lack of understanding of who I was, a discomfort with my own body. And I feel different now than I did when I was younger, but I think there will always be a part of me that is just more. What word am I looking for? I don’t know deep down, I guess.”

Her path to fame with “Anora” was not without obstacles. In December, she and Pamela Anderson were partners on Variety’s “Actors on Actors,” where Madison Anderson said they chose not to use an intimacy coordinator on “Anora.” There was an immediate backlash online, with many feeling the comments downplayed the importance that intimacy coordinators have on movie sets.

“It’s not a conversation I take lightly,” Madison says of the reaction. “With any project that involves intimacy, there is a lot of discussion beforehand. I had a lot of conversations beforehand, not just me and my director alone in a room to make a decision, but with me, my team, other actors, their team – everyone involved was on the same page and we shared this decision met.

“I think at the end of the day, as a woman, I have the right to decide what I’m most comfortable with on a set because it’s my body, and on this set the actors involved felt most comfortable without working , and that could be the case. On the next set I will be different, but it is my decision as a woman and as an actress. And I had a very positive, safe experience with this film, and I know that’s not always the case. That’s why it’s important to have people who are there for protection and support. I look forward to working with an intimacy coordinator in the future if that is the right decision for everyone involved.”

Since “Anora” premiered at Cannes, Madison has yet to announce a next project – especially because there’s no interest. There are a few projects that “feel really special” to her and that she hopes to be a part of, but she’s being selective about her next gig.

“I’m very hopeful, which is fun. I was thinking earlier today that I haven’t worked in years – I tried, but for some reason it was hard to find a job, so it’s really exciting to be in this position now. “, she says. “I am able to read scripts that I would never have dreamed of being able to read so many years ago.

“Being intentional and specific and taking my time is exactly what I strive for in my life in general,” she adds. “I’ve been grateful for every (acting) job I’ve had, but I’ve also learned that it’s an emotional job and I would really like to have that emotional, deep connection and love for the story and the script.” I play. I have to feel that pull to say, ‘I have to do this.’ I have to be the one to play this character.’ Or I think it’s a sign that maybe it’s not the right next job for me. But I also had an incredible, life-changing experience making Sean’s film that made me more thoughtful as an actor. I also just think about long-term things, like what really makes me happy and what I think I can best use my artistic services for.”