Cover Mikey Madison, winner of the Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘Anora’, poses in the press room after receiving her Oscar. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Mikey Madison, winner of the Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘Anora’, poses in the press room after receiving her Oscar. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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‘Anora’ star Mikey Madison is suddenly on everybody's radar thanks to her recent Best Actress win at the Oscars. Find out everything you need to know about her
There are stars, and then there are stars, the ones who don’t just light up the screen but seem to carry a certain enigma with them. Black-haired, pale-skinned Mikey Madison is the latter.
She doesn’t have the flashy social media presence of her peers. She isn’t regularly spotted at buzzy Hollywood parties or making headlines for off-screen drama. Instead, she’s built a career that speaks for itself—one of quiet intensity, razor-sharp talent and an uncanny ability to disappear into any role she takes on.
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And then came Anora. With a performance that left critics scrambling for superlatives, Madison cemented herself as one of the most electrifying actresses of her generation. In a sea of predictable star trajectories, hers is refreshingly different. She didn’t start off as a child actor or the child of an actor. She wasn't even sure until recently that she would stay in Hollywood. She simply found herself in front of a camera one day—and never looked back.
Here are six things you need to know about Hollywood’s most intriguing new A-lister.
1. Mikey Madison the actress might have been Mikey Madison the equestrienne
Before Hollywood came calling, Mikey Madison set her sights on a completely different arena. A competitive horseback rider in her early years, she spent much time training and competing. But at 14, a shift in priorities led her to trade in the saddle for a script. It wasn’t a lifelong dream of acting that pushed her—rather, it was her older sister, an aspiring writer and director, needed actors for her student films. Madison volunteered, and in the process, stumbled upon a passion she hadn’t realised was there. One audition led to another, and soon, the path of show business proved more enticing than the stables.
2. ‘Better Things’ was her breakout role
Above Mikey Madison as angsty teenager Max in ‘Better Things’ (Photo: FX Networks)
Mikey Madison as angsty teenager Max in ‘Better Things’ (Photo: FX Networks)
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Hollywood is filled with stories of overnight success, and Mikey Madison's surprise Oscar win makes it seem like she came out of nowhere. However, her triumphs came with years of subtle, careful buildup. Her first major role was in FX’s critically acclaimed series Better Things (2016–2022), where she played Max, the angsty yet deeply layered teenage daughter of Pamela Adlon’s character, Sam. Madison’s performance was raw and unfiltered, capturing the confusion and contradictions of adolescence with a quiet ferocity. Though she was just 16 when she landed the role, her ability to deliver restrained, naturalistic performances caught the industry’s attention.
3. She took a wild turn in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
Above Mikey Madison as Manson Family member Sadie Atkins in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (Photo: IMDB)
Mikey Madison as Manson Family member Sadie Atkins in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (Photo: IMDB)
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If Better Things showcased her ability to play a brooding, introspective teen, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) demonstrated her versatility. Madison played Susan “Sadie” Atkins, a real-life member of the Manson Family, in Tarantino’s revisionist take on the infamous 1969 Tate murders.
Despite her limited screen time, Madison made an impact, delivering a performance that was equal parts unhinged and mesmerising. In one of the film’s most brutal and chaotic scenes, she went toe-to-toe with Brad Pitt’s stuntman character—only to meet a satisfyingly over-the-top demise.
4. ‘Anora’ changed everything
Then came Anora (2024), the film that didn’t has just secured Madison’s place on the A-list. Playing the title character, a Brooklyn stripper who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, Madison delivered a performance that was raw, dynamic and deeply human. The role required her to balance Anora’s toughness and vulnerability, her street-smart bravado and underlying desperation.
Critics hailed her as the revelation of the year, and the awards soon followed. Her performance won her Best Actress at both the Academy Awards and BAFTA, beating frontrunner Demi Moore and catapulting her into the upper echelons of Hollywood.
5. She goes the extra mile for a role
Above Mikey Madison’s Oscar-winning performance as Anora Mikheeva in ‘Anora’ (Photo: Neon)
Mikey Madison’s Oscar-winning performance as Anora Mikheeva in ‘Anora’ (Photo: Neon)
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Mikey Madison’s commitment to Anora is just one example of her dedication to authenticity. She takes a methodical, immersive approach to her work, diving deep into the psychology of her characters. For Anora, she spent weeks learning Russian—not just the lines she needed, but conversational fluency to better inhabit her character’s world. She also spent months training in dance and studying the nuances of strip club culture. The result? A performance that felt lived-in and electric, solidifying Anora as one of the defining films of the decade.
This level of preparation isn’t new for her. Even in her early roles, Madison has been drawn to characters that require emotional and physical transformation. She’s not interested in playing one-dimensional roles—every character she takes on has layers, contradictions and complexities that she’s eager to explore.
6. She has a twin brother
Unlike many of Hollywood’s young stars, Mikey Madison didn’t grow up in an entertainment family, contradicting this generation's nepo trend. She was born Mikaela Madison Rosberg on March 25, 1999, in Los Angeles, to parents who were both psychologists. Raised in a family that valued intellect and emotional depth, Madison grew up in an environment that emphasised curiosity, understanding and deep thinking.
She also has a twin brother and several siblings, making her upbringing far removed from the stereotypical child-star trajectory. While many of her peers were attending industry events or training at young ages, Madison’s childhood was relatively normal until she leapt into acting in her teens.
Perhaps it’s this grounded background that makes her so compelling on screen. There’s a quiet, introspective quality to her performances, a sense that she’s always thinking and processing rather than just reciting lines.
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