LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mikey Madison won the best actress Oscar on Sunday for “Anora," a role that catapulted the 25-year-old into a film career after achieving initial success on television.
Her victory was part of a huge night for the Brooklyn-set comedy-drama, which won five Oscars, including best picture and directing honors for Sean Baker.
“Wow, this is very surreal,” Madison said, having hugged Baker and others before taking the stage.
“Forgive me, I'm nervous,” she said before reading off a list of names from a piece of paper.
Madison had been best known for playing a sullen teenager in the FX comedy series “Better Things,” which ended in 2022. She also appeared in the hit movies “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” and the fifth installment of the horror franchise “Scream.”
Those jobs attracted the attention of director-writer Baker, who penned the title role in “Anora” for Madison. She studied Russian and did her own stunts in the film, in addition to learning to pole dance to play an exotic dancer who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.
“I want to again recognize the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally,” Madison said onstage.
The film debuted to critical acclaim at Cannes last year, winning the Palme d’Or. It has gained momentum ever since, with its box-office success easily out-earning its $6 million budget.
Hollywood veteran Demi Moore of “The Substance” had been the Oscar front-runner, having won over Madison at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards. However, Madison beat out Moore for the BAFTA two days before Oscar voting ended, as well as at last weekend's Independent Spirit Awards.
“It’s a huge honor, one that I think will soak in later down the line,” Madison said backstage. “I really did not expect it at all.”
She was born Mikaela Madison Rosberg in Los Angeles, one of five children of psychologist parents. Her mother signed her up for an acting class in her mid-teens after Madison had trained in competitive horseback riding, which she found lonely compared to the collaborative nature of acting.
“I grew up in Los Angeles but Hollywood always felt so far away from me," Madison said. “This is a dream come true. I’m probably going to wake up tomorrow.”
Madison cradled her Oscar backstage.
“My mind is all over the place and my heart is about to explode right now,” she said, smiling.
She has nine films to her credit since her debut in “Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey” in 2017.
“I really don’t know what will happen in the future. I just really want to keep making movies,” Madison said. “Making this film gave me confidence as an actor and as a creative. It really inspired me and reinvigorated my love of cinema and reminded me of the kind of work that I want to do.”
First, though, she has some furry friends waiting for her.
“I’m going to go home to my new puppies and probably clean up their mess and it’s going to bring me down to earth,” Madison said.
In addition to Moore, the other nominees were Cynthia Erivo for “Wicked,” Karla Sofía Gascón for “Emilia Pérez" and Fernanda Torres for “I’m Still Here.”
For more coverage of this year’s Academy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards
Mikey Madison arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
