Anora's Mikey Madison calls out society for 'really mistreating' sex workers

Mikey Madison has called out the unfair treatment of sex workers following her Leading Actress win at the 2025 Baftas, saying people in this line of work "deserve respect".

Speaking at the Baftas winners press conference, the Anora star spoke passionately about her support for sex workers who are like her character Ani. The movie tells the story of the sex worker's complicated marriage to Vanya Zakharov, the son of a Russian oligarch.

Madison said that she was able to meet a lot of women like Ani and found she fell in love with their community over the course of making the film: "I've gotten to know some really incredible people from that community, these are people who I really admire and that's been one of the most incredible parts of playing Ani is getting to know so many amazing women and being introduced to a community that I've fallen in love with.

"These are people who I really admire and who deserve respect and just because of society, and because of what they do, [they] are really mistreated, and I think it's really unfair."

The actor went on to speak about the impact of being part of a film like Anora, sharing her gratitude to director Sean Baker for entrusting the role of Ani to her: "I've been acting for what feels like forever now, for so much of my life I've been trying to act and so he really gave me a chance to play a leading role, to play a really complex, interesting character.

"And, for me, to also play someone so different from myself and really stretch myself as an artist. I mean an opportunity to play someone like Ani, I was able to dive into all of this research and physical preparation and emotional preparation, which I had never done before for a character.

"So I think it's really inspired me and reinvigorated me and and shown me how I want to feel on my next projects."

Madison's win came as a big surprise at the Baftas as she took the top prize over frontrunner Demi Moore, it was even a shock for the actor herself because she decided not to write a speech because she didn't expect to win. In the press conference Madison explained that she didn't prepare anything because she had been told to by Robert De Niro.

Calling the win "incredibly special", she said: I just wish that I had a better speech. I was on a talk show and Robert De Niro told me not to write a speech. I was like, well, I should probably listen to him! And I forgot to thank so many important people."

The actor was given the advice by De Niro during an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, with the Mean Streets icon telling her that if she's nominated then she has "already won" and therefore a speech wasn't necessary to write.

Anora is available to buy and rent on digital platforms now, the 2025 Baftas are now on BBC iPlayer.