What's better than a standing ovation? How about a room full of dancers and sex workers clacking their heels together?
That was the sight before "Scream" actor Mikey Madison when she screened her new movie last month. Since "Anora" debuted in July at the Cannes Film Festival, and went on to screen for New York audiences at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, the film has become one of the most talked about of the fall.
In "Anora," Madison plays Ani, a young sex worker in Brooklyn who gets tangled up with an impulsive rich man, who also happens to be the son of a Russian oligarch.
Weeks before the film opens nationwide, Madison and her co-star Lindsey Normington hosted a private screening for a theater full of dancers and sex workers. Once the actors stepped into the theater, many of the women in the audience showed their love for the movie by clacking their Pleaser heels together in a moment that attracted a lot of love online.
"I have to say, to witness that in person was absolutely specular," Madison told NBC New York. "To look out into a crowd and have applause of Pleasers clacking in the air was unlike anything I've ever experienced before. It was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen."
To take on the role of Ani, Madison spent months perfecting a Brooklyn accent and training with a choreographer to move like a professional dancer.
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The result appears to have paid off. The film, directed by Sean Baker, won the top prize (Palme d'Or) at the Cannes Film Festival, and Oscar pundits are predicting the film will be nominated for Best Picture, as will Madison for her performance.
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It was in Cannes where Baker's movie and the cast received a 7.5-minute standing ovation, according to Deadline. And in all the press and festivals the cast has participated in since, Madison said thinking about that screening for the dancers has her smiling so much her cheeks hurt.
"I have to say, I think, other than the Palme, that was the highlight of this entire experience," she said.
"Anora" opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 18.
