Anora’s Mikey Madison Opens Up About Her Best Actress Oscar Win After She Pulled Off One Of The Night’s Biggest Upsets

Anora star Mikey Madison reacts to her win for Best Actress at the Oscars last night. Though Hulu watchers did not get to see this win live due to the livestream cutting off after Best Director, Madison ended up winning Best Actress last night, beating out The Substance favorite Demi Moore. In addition to Best Actress, Anora won four other Oscars last night, including Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and the coveted Best Picture award. It did not win its sixth nomination, Best Supporting Actor, which went to Kieran Culkin from A Real Pain.

Speaking at the Oscar Winners Press Room, with ScreenRant in attendance, Madison reacts to her Best Actress win. Thrilled about the win, Madison said that “it’s just incredibly surreal” and a “huge honor.” She “really did not expect” to win Best Actress for the film. She went on to praise Anora and its creator Sean Baker, who she called an “incredible filmmaker.” She called the whole process “a dream come true” and mentioned she was “so so happy” for everyone involved in the film. Check out the full quote from Madison below:

Oh my gosh, for lack of a better word, it’s just incredibly surreal. I never thought anything like this would happen in my life. I just love making movies, and I’ve dreamed of being an actress that would be able to be in a film like Anora my entire career as an actress. It’s a huge honor, one that I think will soak in later down the line, hopefully. I really did not expect it at all.

Sean is such a wonderful he’s an incredible filmmaker. He is an incredible writer, an amazing editor. He is a true lover of cinema, a kind person. He has dedicated so much of his career to telling really important stories, and I’m so happy for him, because he’s he’s just a true indie filmmaker. We went off and just made this weird, crazy movie and had fun and poured our hearts into it.

All of this started at Cannes, but that was a just a dream come true for me; a career-long dream to even just go to a film festival, specifically Cannes. Everything that has followed has been wonderful, but I’m just so happy for him. I adore him, and I adore Sammy Quan and Alex Coco and the entire team. I could keep talking about them forever, but I’m so so happy for them.

What This Means For The Best Actress Oscar

Madison’s Win Was A Surprise For Multiple Reasons

Image via Mubi

Madison may have played the titular role in the Best Picture frontrunner — which indeed took home the prize — Anora, but she was far from the favorite for Best Actress. For weeks leading up to the Oscars, Moore was considered the favorite to win the award. The Substance star had beaten Madison at the Golden Globes in an early awards season success, and went on to win a Critics Choice Award and SAG, among other wins. This traction, along with a decades-long history of being under-recognized and over-sexualized in Hollywood, made her most people’s prediction to win.

The youngest ever Best Actress Winner was Marlee Matlin, who was 21 years old when she won for her role in Children of a Lesser God.

Moore’s status was not the only reason why Madison was not the favorite to win. At only 25 years old, Madison was a fairly young nominee, and winning would make her one of the youngest people to get that particular prize. She was also a relative unknown prior to Anora, and had never been nominated for major awards before starring in the Cannes-winning film. Though this made her eventual win more impressive, these elements made the odds stacked against her when it came to winning Best Actress last night, so her shock makes sense.

Our Take On Mikey Madison’s Best Actress Win

Mikey Madison Gave A Great Performance

There was no right answer when it came to picking Best Actress this year. Madison and Moore were both fabulous, and a strong case could be made for Fernanda Torres powerful role in I’m Still Here or Cynthia Erivo’s jaw-dropping musical performance in Wicked. As for Madison, though, her role in Anora was truly a stunning balance of comedy and tragedy, playing a character that puts on a strong face despite her internal struggle. While it is unfortunate that Moore missed her moment, this win will hopefully elevate Madison’s career to new heights.