Mikey Madison has felt a need to “withdraw into herself” since winning an Academy Award.
Mikey Madison has felt a need to ‘withdraw into herself’
The Anora actress won her first Oscar for best actress earlier this year for the titular role in 2024 blockbuster, becoming the first Gen-Z performer to earn an acting prize at the iconic ceremony, while the then-25-year-old star was also the category’s ninth-youngest winner.
Mikey, now 26, told Vogue Italia magazine: “I feel like everything around me has changed, and I think that’s increasing my need to withdraw into myself.
“I’m extremely introverted, but I also have a big desire for adventure.
“It’s a conflict I’ve always felt, but it’s gotten worse lately.”
Mikey opened up on how she doesn’t embrace social media or focus on the party lifestyle, but there is a preasure to go the other way.
She explained: “It’s as if I’m now aware of how I’m perceived.
“I’m not on social media, I never regret missing a party or a dinner, but it seems like society is forcing me to ask myself, ‘Should I do it too to be happy? To be fair?’
“We pretend to be someone we’re not to make others feel comfortable. I think shyness should be considered a form of poetry.”
The Better Things actress – who rose to fame as a teen on the FX comedy between 2016 and 2022 – has also appeared in the likes of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Scream.
However, she added: “It’s as if [Anora director] Sean Baker plucked me out of the darknes.
“I still feel like I’m at the beginning of my career; I feel like the time has come to play characters that terrify me. I need to read a script and be afraid.”
Meanwhile, she is inspired by hugely successful performers who “remain kind” despite being at “the peak of their careers”.
She said: “It’s wonderful to meet people who are at the peak of their careers and choose to remain kind. That’s exactly what I want to be.
“I admire those who nurture their ‘sense of playfulness.’ I’d like to be indulgent with myself, too.
“My mom said to me just the other day: ‘If only you could see yourself the way you see others, you’d be so much happier.’ ”
