Is this the raunchiest Oscar nominee but? Mikey Madison stars as intercourse employee in racy romantic-comedy Anora after successful prestigious Cannes Film Festival Award

Anora is set to be the raunchiest Oscar nominee in years after receiving stand out reviews after this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 

Starring Mikey Madison as a sex worker who gets married, director Sean Baker wrote the character specifically for the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actress. 

Filled with nudity and raunchy sex scenes, the romantic comedy follows Ani (Mikey), whose legal name is Anora, from Brooklyn, who meets and spontaneously marries an immature young man named Ivan ‘Vanya’ Zakharov, the son of a Russian oligarch.

Ani´s fairytale life is at risk when Ivan, played by Russian actor Mark Eidelshteyn, must reckon with his parents, who want his marriage to a sex worker quickly annulled. 

Scenes from the trailer show Ani pole dancing before her and Ivan head to the bathroom for a steamy shower sex scene. 

Last week the film opened in six locations in New York and Los Angeles and has already earned an estimated $630,000. 

That´s a $105,000 per theater average, the best since Asteroid City´s $142,000 average last summer. 

Due for release in the UK on November 1, the Neon release is already being labelled a likely Oscar contender. 

Receiving a sensational reception at Cannes, Sean lifted the festival’s top award, the Palme D’Or as he accepted the coveted prize at the iconic Grand Théâtre Lumière.

Emotionally collected the gong, he said: ‘I don’t really know what’s happening right now.’ 

One of the most important things for both Sean and the lead actress was being able to authentically portray Ani’s life as a sex worker.

Mikey explained: ‘I did a lot of research on the character, into the world of sex work and what that would be like. I talked to consultants and went to strip clubs and read memoirs.’

Discussing filming the raunchy scenes she added that there was no need for an intimacy coordinator on the set because Sean created such a comfortable environment, often showing examples of the sex sequences with his wife for the actors to reference.

Meanwhile Mikey confessed she felt ‘honoured and intimidated’ when Sean approached her for the lead role in the film. 

She explained: ‘I’ve never had a director write a film for me, you know, tailor-make a specific character for me.’

The director had seen Madison´s film work, including her performance as Susan Atkins in Quentin Tarantino´s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ and decided that if the 25-year-old actor wanted the role, he would write the film script specifically for her to be the lead. 

Sean’s aim was for audiences to experience two different films when watching Anora, as it goes from a ‘romantic comedy’ to a ‘sobering reality’ for its lead characters.

Mikey added: ‘I think maybe it’s a love story, depending on who you ask, maybe I have more of a cynical perspective,’ she said, noting that she sees it as less of a love story for Ani.

However Sean, who is known for films that explore the lives of sex workers like the Florida Project, doesn’t want his films to imply that the experiences of all sex workers are homogenous.

Rather, he hopes Anora will dispel the ‘unfair stigma’ that sex workers face while also allowing viewers to connect with Ani´s unique journey.