The Untold Truth Of Mikey Madison

Mikey Madison, born Mikaela Madison Rosberg, is this year's breakout star. Madison first gained notoriety for her role as the moody Max in the FX comedy series "Better Things." She then broke into the mainstream when she gave a memorable performance starring alongside Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie in director Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" as Sadie.

In 2024, Madison starred in Sean Baker's "Anora," in which she played a determined stripper from New York City who gets caught up in a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch. The highly-acclaimed film completely swept at the 2025 Oscars – for which we made a worst-dressed list – winning a total of five awards and granting Madison her first win for best actress.

With this big win under her belt, Madison's career is undoubtedly on the rise. Her unique flair, natural talent and affinity for polarizing characters has captured the attention of audiences and industry professionals alike, leading everyone to want to know more about this fascinating new star. Let's dive into the untold truth of Mikey Madison.

Mikey Madison is on the list of celebrities you may have had no idea have a twin! She grew up the child of two psychologists in California's San Fernando Valley. She is one of five siblings; two brothers, including her twin, Miles, and two sisters. Miles is reportedly a University of California at Berkeley alum that played on the school's lacrosse team, but not much else is known about him. Still, the internet has already become captivated by his good looks and red hair.

Though she now considers Miles her "closest friend," as she told USA Today, things were different when they were in school. "My twin brother would pretend that we weren't siblings. People would be like, on the last day of school, like, 'Oh, Miles, why are you getting into Mikaela's car with her?' He's like, 'Oh, that's my sister!" she recalled laughing to W magazine. "He has since apologized."

These days, Miles keeps a pretty lowkey profile, but he always supports his twin sister in her endeavors. In her interview with USA Today, Madison admitted that out of everyone in her family, she was most concerned with Miles' reaction to her raunchy performance in "Anora." Thankfully, he was just as blown away as the rest of us. "He was speechless when he saw it for the first time," she gushed. "He was like, 'Mikey, I didn't see you at all; I just saw the character.' Coming from him, that was really special to hear."

Mikey Madison comes from a family of equestrians. In 2024, Madison told Esquire that both her mother and grandmother had ridden horses, so she too was already riding "before [she] could walk." Naturally, Madison totally fell in love with the sport. In fact, until she was a teen, Madison had no interest in acting at all. Instead, her dream was to become a riding instructor. But, eventually, Madison would begin to yearn for acting.

"I loved the ritual of getting to the barn and taking care of my horse, but it's kind of an isolating sport," Madison told The Cut. "I felt called in another direction." At 14, her mother signed her up for an acting class. Madison was riding and acting for a while before ultimately letting horseback riding go — for good. Though it was a "painful" decision, she has no regrets.

With the help of her new manager, Madison would eventually book "Better Things," which ran for five seasons, and her acting career would officially begin. She still rides horses from time to time. "I'd like to get back into it more," Madison expressed to Vogue. "Which is also an excuse to go buy a new riding wardrobe, which would be exciting."

After seeing Mikey Madison's performances in "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" and "Scream," director and writer Sean Baker immediately contacted her agent for a meeting. The director found himself particularly captivated with Madison's gritty and intense performance as Ghostface. He was inspired right then and there to write her as his Ani. "I didn't have a word on paper yet. I started writing after she accepted," Baker told Business Insider. A year later, they were on set filming — no audition required.

One of the main reasons Baker chose Madison for the role was because of her willingness to fully shed any trace of vanity when portraying a character. In order for Ani to come to life, Madison needed to tap into every aspect of the character's personality — including her brashness and her flaws. "He told me that ... I was open to exploring those strange parts of myself that aren't attractive," Madison recalled to Deadline. "I wasn't afraid of what I was going to look like on screen and so I think that was something that interested him."

Overall, working on this film with Baker was a life-changing experience for the actor. "It's really special. I've never had a director want to write a film for me before," Madison told Vogue.

When the opportunity arrived to work with Sean Baker, Mikey Madison was absolutely floored. She was a long time fan of his work, citing "Tangerine" and "The Florida Project" as some of her favorite films. Upon meeting the director, agreeing to play "Anora" — without even first seeing a script — was an obvious choice. "I've dreamed of working with a filmmaker like [Baker] for my entire career as an actress," she told Business Insider. When "Anora" became a major hit, Madison's dream came true in ways she couldn't have imagined.

This theatrical collaboration proved to be just as fulfilling for Baker as it was for Madison. Up until 2024, the director had gone virtually unrecognized by the Academy Awards, despite his success in the indie film world. Thanks to Madison's outstanding performance in "Anora" and his artistic storytelling, he was immediately thrown into the mainstream conversation, earning four Oscars in 2025 for best picture, directing, original screenplay, and film editing. Still, Madison continues to gush about Baker whenever she can, fully crediting his genius for the film's success. "Sean is an amazing filmmaker," she said in an interview with Newsweek. "I think he's one of a kind, and one of the best working filmmakers today."

When preparing for the role of Ani, Mikey Madison was determined to be as respectful and authentic in her interpretation of sex work as possible. Andrea Werhun, the author of "Modern Whore: A Memoir," served as a consultant on the film and worked closely with Madison and numerous real sex workers to make the performance as believable as possible. Werhun provided Madison and the dancers with valuable insights into the daily struggles and realities of working in a strip club, such as "locker-room chatter, things that you say to someone, what food she brings as her lunch to eat in the break room, little things like that," Madison revealed to Deadline. Madison's father even installed her own pole for her at home for dance practice. Talk about commitment!

Above all, in order to do Ani and the sex worker community any justice, it was extremely important for Madison to treat this portrayal with humanity, decency. and respect. "I really wanted to do these women justice; I didn't want to let them down," Madison told USA Today.

Madison dedicated her 2025 BAFTA — which we also made a worst-dressed list for — win to the sex worker community who inspired "Anora" and thanked the community again in her Oscars win for best actress. "I also just want to again recognize and honor the sex worker community," she expressed in her speech. "I will continue to support and be an ally."

Mikey Madison has a deep love for fashion. She is often seen strutting the streets of LA walking her dog, Jam, in designer labels like Mugler and Loewe. She also effortlessly commands a red carpet. Whether it's a timeless floor-length gown or a sparkling mini dress, Madison always knows how to serve a look. With the help of stylist Jamie Mizrahi, she is quickly becoming known as a fashion darling in Hollywood. Some of Madison's most notable looks include her gold, statuesque Bottega garment at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards and her plunging-neckline dress at the "Better Things" premiere.

"I've always loved fashion and, when I was younger, I was so experimental with clothing," she told Vogue in 2024. "There was a period just a couple years ago when I was super into Victorian dresses and I would mix them with combat boots, so it was this grunge look with a very delicate dress." Madison is looking forward to expanding her vintage collection as her style evolves, though she definitely worries about running out of closet space. "I'm excited about experimenting more because you don't often get to wear dresses like that in everyday life. I don't really get to go to parties where you get to be that glamorous all the time. It's really fun," she said.

Filming a raw and unfiltered movie like "Anora" came with its challenges. For Mark Eydelshteyn, the Russian actor who plays Ivan, the challenge was getting used to a new country, culture, and people while playing a spoiled, goofy oligarch's son. For Mikey Madison, it was a challenge to embody Ani's brash, seductive nature while learning how to strip, dance, and speak Russian. But ultimately, the biggest challenge was to make every scene feel as realistic as possible. To achieve this, director Sean Baker welcomed improvisation whenever the actors felt it was necessary, to ensure that no scene felt too polished.

For example, Baker revealed to Letterboxd that before filming, there was a full-length screenplay already written, but he wanted Madison to improvise — like the many actors who improvised their best scenes — the opening sequence. In those first few minutes, we meet Ani while she's working at the club. "We're setting up this world so as to show you sex work is real work. This is real," Baker emphasized. As she chats with her coworkers, she scans the crowd for her next client. Madison recalled being shot guerilla-style as she worked her way around the set, music blasting, as if they were really in an active club. The goal was to immerse herself fully so she could deliver her lines as naturally as possible.

"I think that in a lot of situations, like Ani is someone who doesn't really think before she speaks, she just says something. And so for me, I needed to not think about it too much and just feel whatever the character is feeling and just say it," Madison told Teen Vogue.

Though it seems like Mikey Madison is destined to be the next it-girl, there's one place we won't see her — and that's on social media. Despite her rising celebrity, Madison has deleted all of her social media accounts (Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram — you name it) and has no plans to go back.

In 2018, she admitted that she struggled with comparing herself to other women she saw online. "I just recently joined Instagram and there was a couple moments, the week of joining Instagram. Where I was becoming very jealous of other women," she told C-Heads. "Why don't I look like that, why isn't my life like this and jealous of other people's success. Then I just took a step back, and was like, 'I need to be happy for these women.'"

Eventually, Madison would delete her Instagram and refuse to use social media altogether, as she said it felt inauthentic to who she is. She still sometimes feels FOMO, but the pressure to perform for an online audience continues to be too intense for Madison. "I'm a very sensitive person, so I think it's also protective to not be online," Madison told Bustle. "I don't think you're supposed to be reading the things people are saying about you ... I know myself, and I think keeping myself ignorant to that part of the Internet is probably healthier for me."

Off-camera, Mikey Madison is as sweet as can be. In her interviews, she comes across as soft-spoken, eloquent and passionate. Her "Anora" co-stars described her to ETalk as someone who "really cares" about others and who "shines ... bright like a diamond." But, in spite of her soft nature, Madison consistently challenges herself by playing villainous or polarizing characters.

As a self proclaimed "good girl," these roles allow Madison to explore lifestyles she otherwise wouldn't have. She relishes in blurring the lines between villain and victim. It's part of why she was attracted to working with Sean Baker in the first place. "Those are the characters that I love to play: Nobody is just good. Nobody is just bad. It's somewhere in between," Madison revealed to Business Insider. For Madison, it's all about portraying the intensities and the complexities of human nature.

From teenage murderer to psychopath — nothing is off limits for Madison. As mentioned previously, she played a Manson Family cult member in controversial director Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood." Then, in 2022, she played Amber Freeman, the ruthless Ghostface murderer in the modern remake of "Scream." Her performance was highly praised as one of the most memorable killers in the series. "I don't know how I got into a pocket of playing antagonistic characters, but I did. It's fun," Madison told Esquire. "I've never broken the rules or done bad things, and it's so interesting to play characters who have, because I feel like I've been able to experience it with this safety net underneath me."