Mikaela "Mikey" Madison Rosberg (born March 25, 1999) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award and BAFTA Award, in addition to nominations for two Actor Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
Mikey Madison | |
|---|---|
 Madison in 2024 | |
| Born | Mikaela Madison Rosberg March 25, 1999 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Awards | Full list |
Madison began her acting career as a teenager with roles in short films. Her first major role came as a sullen teenager in the FX comedy series Better Things (2016–2022). She made her film debut with a starring role in Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey (2017), followed by supporting roles in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and the slasher film Scream (2022). In 2024, she played the titular role in Sean Baker's Anora, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress and BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Early life
Mikaela Madison Rosberg was born on March 25, 1999, in Los Angeles, California, as the third daughter and fourth of five children of Michael and Tracy Rosberg. Both of her parents are psychologists: her father specialized in schizophrenia and her mother in child psychology. She has two brothers, one of whom is her twin, and two older sisters.
Madison lived in Santa Clarita, a Los Angeles suburb, for the first few years of her life before her family moved to the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was raised in the San Fernando Valley. Madison initially trained as a competitive horseback rider before switching to acting at age 14. She was homeschooled after the seventh grade. Her grandmother's cousin was a Texas cowboy named Clarence Hailey Long Jr., who appeared on the cover of the August 1949 issue of Life magazine, which served as the main inspiration for the Marlboro Man. She grew up watching films directed by Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, and Martin Scorsese.
Madison is Jewish, and was raised in a secular household.
Career
2013–2023: Early work
Madison made her acting debut in 2013, appearing in the short films Retirement and Pani's Box. In 2014, after appearing in the short film Bound for Greatness, she filmed her first feature film, Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey, which was not released until 2017.
In 2016, Madison began a starring role as Max Fox, a sullen teenager, in the FX comedy-drama series Better Things created by Louis C.K. and Pamela Adlon, which ran until 2022. From 2017 to 2018, she guest starred in the Bravo dark comedy series Imposters. In 2018, she appeared in the drama films Monster and Nostalgia.
Madison earned recognition for her role as the Manson Family member Susan "Sadie" Atkins in Quentin Tarantino's period drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was a commercial success. Also in 2019, she had a voice role as Candi, the Barista, in the animated black comedy film The Addams Family.
The following year, Madison was cast as Amber Freeman in Scream, the fifth film of the Scream franchise, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The film was released in 2022 to critical and commercial success, becoming the 28th-highest-grossing film of its year. Writing for The A.V. Club, Katie Rife called Madison a standout performer in the film. In 2024, Madison had a supporting role in the miniseries Lady in the Lake.
2024–present: Breakthrough
Filmmaker Sean Baker cast Madison in the comedy-drama film Anora as the titular stripper and sex worker. He cast her without an audition after watching her performances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Scream, and wrote the character specifically for her. For the role, she studied Russian and performed her own stunts, including two fight scenes. She also learned pole dancing and temporarily relocated to Brighton Beach, the neighborhood setting of the film, in preparation for the film. The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim, winning the Palme d'Or. It became a critical and commercial success, and Madison was praised for her performance.Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair praised Madison's Brooklyn accent and found her performance "big and vivid, brash but charming". Her performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe and a SAG Award in the same category.
In March 2025, Madison guest hosted an episode of the live sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. In April 2025, Madison entered brief negotiations to appear in Star Wars: Starfighter, but declined due to a salary dispute. In May 2025, Madison was cast in the film Reptilia, to be directed by Alejandro Landes. By June 2025, she was reported to be negotiating a starring role in The Masque of the Red Death for A24. In September 2025, Madison was cast as whistleblower Frances Haugen in The Social Reckoning, the sequel to 2010's The Social Network, to be released on October 9, 2026.
Personal life
Madison lives in her native Los Angeles. She is a vegan and adopted a dog named Jam. Madison does not use social media, saying in an interview that it does not feel "authentic or natural" to her and that she would not "have anything very impactful to add" to social media. She added that she is a "very sensitive person" who believes people should not read what others are saying about them and thus keeps herself "ignorant to that part of the internet" for her mental health.
She describes herself as non-religious but a "very spiritual person".
Filmography
Film
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey | Liza | ||
| 2018 | Nostalgia | Kathleen | ||
| Monster | Alexandra Floyd | |||
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Susan "Sadie" Atkins | ||
| The Addams Family | Candi the Barista | Voice | ||
| 2021 | It Takes Three | Kat Walker | ||
| 2022 | Scream | Amber Freeman | ||
| 2023 | All Souls | River | ||
| 2024 | Anora | Anora "Ani" Mikheeva | ||
| 2026 | The Social Reckoning † | Frances Haugen | Post-production | |
| TBA | The Masque of the Red Death † | Filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2022 | Better Things | Maxine "Max" Fox | Main role | |
| 2017–2018 | Imposters | Young Maddie | 2 episodes | |
| 2024 | Lady in the Lake | Judith Weinstein | Miniseries | |
| 2025 | Saturday Night Live | Herself (host) | Episode: "Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen" |
Awards and nominations
Major associations
| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 2025 | Best Actress | Anora | Won | |
| Actor Awards | 2025 | Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | Nominated | ||||
| British Academy Film Awards | 2025 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Won | ||
| Rising Star Award | N/a | Nominated | |||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | 2020 | Best Acting Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Best Actress | Anora | Nominated | ||
| Best Acting Ensemble | Nominated | ||||
| Golden Globe Awards | 2025 | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Nominated |
Other awards
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Capri Hollywood International Film Festival | Best Ensemble Cast | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Won | |
| 2024 | Astra Film Awards | Best Actress | Anora | Nominated | |
| Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Actress | Won | |||
| Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Nominated | |||
| Deauville American Film Festival | Hollywood Rising-Star Award | N/a | Won | ||
| Dublin Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | Anora | Won | ||
| Gotham Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance | Nominated | |||
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Best Lead Performance | Won | |||
| Mill Valley Film Festival | MVFF Breakthrough Performance Award | Won | |||
| National Board of Review | Breakthrough Performance | Won | |||
| New York Film Critics Online | Best Actress | Nominated | |||
| San Diego Film Critics Society | Best Actress | Nominated | |||
| Breakthrough Performance | Won | ||||
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | Nominated | |||
| SCAD Savannah Film Festival | Breakthrough Award | N/a | Won | ||
| Seattle Film Critics Society | Best Actress | Anora | Won | ||
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Won | |||
| Toronto Film Critics Association | Outstanding Lead Performance | Won | |||
| Virginia Film Festival | Achievement in Acting Award | Won | |||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Won | |||
| 2025 | AACTA International Awards | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Actress | Nominated | |||
| Best Women's Breakthrough Performance | Won | ||||
| Georgia Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Won | |||
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Lead Performance | Won | |||
| Irish Film & Television Awards | Best International Actress | Nominated | |||
| National Society of Film Critics | Best Actress | Runner-up | |||
| Online Film Critics Society | Best Actress | Won | |||
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | Breakthrough Performance Award | Won | |||
| Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical | Nominated |
See also
- List of youngest Academy Award winners for Best Actress
- List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of Generation Z Academy Award winners and nominees