By james art It might seem like an obvious premise that for a movie about a sex worker, the actress playing said character should be comfortable playing nude for the camera, but in today’s film environment, that’s not always a guarantee. In the Me Too era and with the advent of intimacy coordinators, more importance is rightly placed on comfort rather than forcing performers into compromising and uncomfortable situations, but when it came to creating Anora, Mikey Madison felt it was only right to embrace her character completely, including Annie’s ease with her own body.
“I’ve always felt comfortable, and I think Annie has too,” Madison said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “It was never a thought for me to be nervous or anything like that.”
“Anora” writer/director Sean Baker spoke to The Associated Press earlier this month, sharing that he believes intimacy coordinators should be used on a case-by-case basis, but he didn’t for “Anora” as all actors felt comfortable with him leading the process.
While Madison has no qualms about going all-in on her performance when it comes to offering herself up to adoring fans — as her status as a rising star may soon force her to do — the young actress is a little less open to the idea.
“I would understand curiosity about a character in a movie, but it’s never been something I’ve really understood — like curiosity about the actor himself,” Madison told The New York Times.
In truth, Madison was quite shy at one point and thought acting was a way to learn how to express herself. Earlier in the interview, she said, “I just saw these actors have these deep, emotional intimate relationships or experiences in the movie, and it was so exciting and meaningful to me, and I thought, this looks like fun, or it looks like a safe place to explore all these things without having to do it in real life.”
Perhaps what was so exciting about playing Annie in “Anora” was the opportunity to step outside of yourself, as Madison says she has yet to play anyone she feels she can fully relate to.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played a character that felt close to home, which is something that I’ve been thinking about lately and that I’m interested in doing,” she said. “I don’t know what it would feel like or what the character would look like.”
“Anora” is distributed by Neon and is currently in theaters.