Mikey Madison won the coveted Best Actress award at the 2025 BAFTAs for her role in Sean Baker's Anora, which was tipped to win at the ceremony but lost out to pope selection thriller Conclave. In Anora, Mikey plays erotic dancer and sex worker Ani who begins a whirlwind romance with wealthy client Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, eventually falling in love and – spoiler alert! – marrying him.
Mikey's win comes of welcome surprise – the up-and-comer faced stiff competition from the likes of Demi Moore in The Substance, Marianne Jena-Baptiste for Hard Truths, Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, and Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez. The 25-year-old was the youngest nominee in the category and was also nominated for the ‘Rising Star’ award. We couldn't be happier that our red carpet favourite has been recognised for her talent.
After emotionally thanking director Sean Baker – “You are such an incredible person… You made my dreams come true” – as well as her mother and fellow nominees, Mikey powerfully used her acceptance speech to honour the sex worker community.
“I want to take a moment to recognise the sex worker community. I want to say that I see you; you deserve respect and human decency – I will always be a friend and ally, and I implore others to do the same.”
This isn't the first time Mikey Madison has used her platform and her role to praise the sex worker community. In an interview with Variety in October 2024, Mikey spoke how they hosted a screening of the film for real-life sex workers and strippers.
“I could probably cry talking about it. It’s the most important thing because the movie is for sex workers. So that was really special," she said. "Just to walk in and all of these amazing women are clapping with their heels, giving us applause. That was beautiful.”
Later, Mikey discussed the months of training she underwent for the role. “I was ripped, like my whole body. Never in my life have I had that much chest strength,” she said. “It completely opened up my eyes to this line of work and these women who do a job that is so physically demanding and psychologically demanding. You have to emotionally connect with the client and dance in a really difficult way. It’s a very complex line of work.”
