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Sean Baker’sAnorais making waves in the awards circle after winning the Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. Baker’s films usually revolve around s*x workers andAnorais his fifth film that deals with the topic. Mikey Madison’s performance is one of the highlights of the film and one scene showcases her at her best.
The opening scene of the film has been discussed in film circles for its close-to-real-life portrayal of a strip club. As British boy band Take That’sGreatest Dayplays in the background, fans see Madison’s Ani walking around in the noisy club and starting conversations with random men. It was also a moment when Madison’s improv skills were on full display.
Mikey Madison’s improv played a crucial role inAnora‘s opening strip club scene
Anora‘s graphic opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the film. The scene shows what an average night at the strip club looks like forMikey Madison‘s Ani. Sean Baker set up the club in an authentic way as if it was functioning like any other normal club. The supporting actors were asked to perform as if they were in a club, having their usual chatter.
Meanwhile, Madison was made to wear a wireless mic and made her rounds around the club, while the crew captured the whole thing on a telephoto lens. The elaborate sequence was shot for nearly 30 minutes with Madison holding on her own without any script, purely depending on her improv skills.
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Baker praised Madison’s improv skills, sharing with THR,“I shot that in a docu-style way, relying on improv from Mikey. She basically set up the film.”He also added that he was inspired by filmmaker Robert Altman’s style during that scene. Despite having no script to go with, Madison nailed the scene down to the point where Ani’s hustle pays off at the very end of those 30 minutes.
Of course, a lot of it came out of Baker andMadison’s research for the film. They spent some time at strip clubs, talking to the dancers and understanding how they make conversations with their clients. Madison shared about her experience during an interview withLetterboxd:
I don’t know if I’ll ever shoot something quite like that again. I think it’s pretty unheard of, making a movie, to shoot a scene like that. […] Butt in this it’s like, yeah, like you were saying, everything is live. It’s so real. It’s kind of a dream for an actor to be able to experiment in a situation like that, ’cause you have no idea where a conversation is gonna take you or what this person is gonna be like. You’re walking up to them for the first time. I think we got some like really interesting, funny, magical moments from that.
Baker shared that it was“tragic”for him as an editor to whittle down 30 minutes of the footage to just two to three minutes for the film. Baker also noted during his THR interview thatthe film had no intimacy coordinatorsbecause every“s*x shot” was blocked out before filming, with the involvement and consent of the actors.
Anora‘s opening scene surprised Brits with Take That’sGreatest Day
British viewers of the film were surprised to hearGreatest Dayplay in the opening sequence of the film. It was one of the popular songs of the British boy band Take That, released in 2008. Interestingly, Baker had only some idea about the band and he was not even a fan when he searched for the song. He shared that the title of the song was key in its inclusion in the film.
Anora Fantastic Fest Review — Sean Baker’s Sex Worker Comedy Is Hilarious and Empathetic
Baker told Variety that he was just searching for a song calledGreatest Daybecause he believed the scene showed Ani’s greatest day. Baker’s wife and co-producer Sam Quan found the song on Spotify. Baker shared withVariety:
I had never heard of this song, so we put it on in the car and the next thing you know it had become a total ear worm. So I got home and threw it over ‘Anora’s’ opening credits, and it was like serendipity… the way it went up to Mikey and landed there, right when the kick comes in, it was like ‘Oh my God!’
It is not the first time that Baker used a boy band’s song in one of his films. BeforeDeadpool & Wolverinebrought a new wave of attention to *NSYNC’sBye Bye Bye, Baker used the song in the opening credits of his filmRed Rocket.
Anorahas five Golden Globe nominations, with Baker earning two for Direction & Screenplay and Madison earning one for Best Actress.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3017
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
