- Mikey Madison won Best Leading Actress award for her performance in Anora
- Robert De Niro had given Madison advice on the Graham Norton Show
- Madison is also nominated for an Oscar for her role in the Sean Baker film
Mikey Madison was delighted to receive advice from Robert De Niro. It was only when the 25-year-old Oscar nominee put it into practice that she realised that perhaps a mistake had been.
Madison last night scooped the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Anora ‘Ani’ Mikheeva in Sean Baker’s Anora. However, when it came time to deliver her victory speech, Madison soon discovered that De Niro’s advice wasn’t suited to her current situation.
During an appearance on the Graham Norton Show earlier this month, Madison was a guest alongside De Niro, when the subject of award shows was broached with the octogenarian actor. De Niro, a two-time Academy Award winner and eight-time BAFTA nominee, was asked by Norton if he had any advice to bestow upon Madison, who has received a deluge of nominations for her performance in Anora, including nominations for an Academy Award and Golden Globe.
De Niro went onto say that nominees should not prepare a speech, but rather allow it to be spontaneous and that nomination itself was a victory.
The moment on the show was well received by the audience and fellow guests, and Madison clearly took it to heart, after she was announced as the winner of Best Actree in a Leading role, revealed that she wished she’d actually prepared something.
Speaking at a post-show press conference, Madison said, “I was on a talk show, and Robert De Niro told me not to write a speech, but I probably shouldn’t have listened to him.”
Madison, who has also starred in 2022’s Scream and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, was nominated for the award alongside Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Marianne-Jean Baptiste (Hard Truths), Demi Moore (The Substance) and Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun).
