Mikey Madison knows how to get into character. Whether that’s showing up to a Quentin Tarantino audition in full ’60s vintage or learning Russian for her Oscar-winning turn as Ani in Anora (casual), the 27-year-old actor makes bringing complex, nuanced women to life look easy.
In her latest role, Madison, a Los Angeles native — who, alongside her “menagerie” of pets still calls the city home — plays Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning. Believe it or not, she prepared for it by purposefully not mimicking the real-life Haugen.
In our series, Roll Call, we ask Madison about a few of her most iconic parts. Here’s what she had to say about playing…
Ani in “Anora”
Every character I do requires me to learn something else or investigate something about myself. Anora happened to require a lot for me to learn, physically and intellectually — I had to learn as much [Russian] as I could.
One of my favorite things as an actor is exploring those private moments where someone is alone and you get to really understand a character on a deeper level, not when they're performing for someone. I think we're all kind of our truest selves when we're alone.
Judith in “Lady in the Lake”
I love a period piece. With Lady in the Lake, that was [the] early ‘60s in Baltimore. There weren't real hippies yet, more like [a] beatnik kind of vibe. That was fun.
“Sadie” in “Once Upon A Time in… Hollywood”
Man, auditioning. The in-person auditions I did earlier on in my career, there was a point where it just started to feel so monotonous. I had audition clothes I would wear, and I kind of got to a point where I was like, “I don't think this is working.”
Getting an audition for Quentin Tarantino, he can appreciate someone putting their own personal touch on something. And so I was like, “I need to go all out for this.” I was really in love with vintage clothing at that time. So I had the perfect 1960s dress and jewelry.
Playing Frances Haugen in “The Social Reckoning”
When I first read the script, I was intrigued by my character's moral integrity. I've made a career of playing morally gray characters, which are some of my favorite characters to play. And this was something that felt surprisingly different than anything I've done before — especially because it's based on true events.
There were lots of decisions going into playing this character. Aaron [Sorkin] was very adamant that I create a character purely from his script and that I try to not let myself be influenced by the real Frances’s physicality or voice. So once I wrapped my head around that, I tried to start small. And [first], I need[ed] to learn how to type properly and not just type with two fingers like I'm a weird alien.
I've gotten to know Jeremy [Allen White] so much more doing this press tour. When we were filming, we had a limited amount of time, and we were laser-focused on the work. But oh man, there were some late nights or really long days where one of us couldn't get a line out, and sometimes you start laughing, and once you open up that Pandora's box, it all goes downhill from there.
Often women are accused of being difficult just for taking up a certain amount of space that isn't deemed appropriate, which is so ridiculous because obviously everything Frances has to say is important and impactful. It's painful, but it also spurs her to bring forth so much amazing change.
I think women are so incredible, and I will hopefully have a long career portraying all different nuanced types of women. It's just beginning, hopefully.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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