Mikey Madison is a huge Charli XCX fan, and at the Gotham Awards in New York on December 2, the actress couldn’t help but gush over the pop star’s influence. Madison, 25, responded to the buzz surrounding her character Anora from Anora (2024) and comparisons to Charli’s iconic “brat” persona — a term the pop sensation popularized this summer.
“I love Charli. Doesn’t everyone love her? I think she’s the coolest, sexiest, and smartest,” Madison said, praising Charli’s undeniable charm. But when asked if she had embraced the “brat” vibe, Madison admitted she missed the trend this summer. “I didn’t have a brat summer because I didn’t learn what ‘brat’ meant until it was too late,” she confessed with a smile. “Next summer, I’m definitely aiming for that brat summer, but this year… I had a nerd girl summer instead!”
Despite her playful admission, Madison made it clear she’s no wild party girl. “I’m more of a stay-at-home-with-my-pets kind of person,” she said. “I admire the party girls, but I never felt like attempting to twerk was something that came naturally to me. I’ll leave that to the cool, sexy girls.”
In addition to her love for Charli XCX, Mikey Madison’s breakout role in Anora has her firmly in the running for next year’s Oscars. The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the prestigious Palme d’Or, sees Madison’s character, Anora, navigating a passionate love affair and the gritty world of New York strip clubs. A pivotal moment in her performance involved learning Russian and exotic dancing, including a brief but intense pole-dancing sequence. Madison admits to going above and beyond in her preparation for the role, training for months to give her character the necessary authenticity.
“I wasn’t even a dancer before, but I wanted to make sure Anora looked like she knew what she was doing,” she told PEOPLE during her film’s Canadian premiere at TIFF. “I trained with a real nightclub performer, and it totally changed how I move. It gave me a different perspective on my sexuality.”
Despite her self-identified “nerd girl” persona, Mikey Madison is showing just how much she’s willing to put into her craft — and maybe, just maybe, her next summer will feature a “brat” reboot!
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