Madison was relatively unknown before Anora. She had had small parts in the fifth instalment of the Scream horror franchise and in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
The writer and director of Anora Sean Baker had seen her on screen before, and wrote the part of Ani especially for her.
“She’s so unique. Not only in her physicality, but there’s something about her aura,” says Baker. “There’s something.. she’s actually quite subdued, even in real life. Her demeanour is, she’s quite reserved.
“But then suddenly she can explode like no other other person I’ve ever seen, no other actor I’ve ever seen.
“And I was always looking forward to those moments shooting the film, knowing that a scene would call for that. You know, to see that you don’t detect anything, and then suddenly just total eruption. It was incredible to watch.”
