Who did Mikey Madison play in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Sean Baker credits Quentin Tarantino's casting for Anora in Oscars speech

On Sunday, March 2, Sean Baker - the creator of Anora - made history by sweeping four awards for the film at the 2025 Oscars, tying with Walt Disney for the most wins in a single year. There's, however, a major difference between the two as Baker, unlike Disney, won for a single project, Anora.

Sean Baker won awards for Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture. In addition, Mikey Madison - the protagonist in Anora - won the Best Actress award for the film.

As Sean Baker accepted his Best Director award, he started his speech by thanking fellow director, Quentin Tarantino, saying:

"Quentin, if you didn't cast Mikey Madison in Once Upon a Time, there'd be no Anora. Thank you. Thank you so much for all your incredible work."

Mikey Madison played Susan "Sadie" Atkins - a member of the Manson Family - in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

Baker's appreciation of Quentin's casting comes months after the director praised Madison's portrayal of Sadie in an Entertainment Weekly interview back in October 2024, saying:

"She blew me away in that scene, so much so that I was like, 'Who is this person? She's stealing the scene from Brad Pitt!' It was an amazing moment. I went to see it again and was really convinced, 'Okay, she's a find.' Then I went back a third time just to watch that scene."

Coincidentally, Quentin Tarantino was also the one who presented Sean Baker with the Best Director award on Sunday night.

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Sean Baker talked about the theater experience in his Oscar acceptance speech

As Sean Baker accepted his award for Best Director on Sunday, he talked about the theater experience in his speech, saying:

"We're all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with movies? At the movie theater. Watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream and fright together, perhaps sit in devastated silence together."

Baker added that in a time when the world felt divided, the uniting experience of watching a movie in a theater played an even more vital role. Then, adding how the "communal experience" of theater-going was under threat, the director continued:

"Movie theaters, especially independently owned movie theaters, are struggling, and it's up to us to support them. During the pandemic, we lost nearly 1,000 screens in the U.S., and we continue to lose them regularly. If we don't reverse this trend, we'll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry."

Concluding his speech, Sean Baker urged filmmakers to continue making movies for the big screen and urged distributors to prioritize the theatrical run for them. He even encouraged parents to introduce their children to films in theaters and "mold the next generation of movie lovers."

Meanwhile, Mikey Madison, who won the Best Actress award on Sunday evening, spoke about the sex worker community in her acceptance speech, promising to recognize and honor them. Madison said:

"I will continue to support and be an ally. All of the incredible people, the women that I’ve had the privilege of meeting from that community has been one of the highlights of this incredible experience."

For Anora, Madison has also won other best actress awards this season including the Spirit Awards and the BAFTAs.

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The actress bagged her first Oscar, defeating Karla Sofia Gascon from Emilia Perez, Demi Moore from The Substance, Fernanda Torres from I'm Still Here, and Cynthia Erivo from Wicked.