44 | JUNE 13 • 2024
J
N
A STAR IS BORN? A
MOVIE AND A STAND-UP
FIRST
I knew a couple of her roles,
but I didn’t even know her
name. Her name is Mikey
Madison, 25, and she and
her new film are the total
toasts of the just-completed,
super-prestigious Cannes
Film Festival. She stars in
Anora, the first American film
to win the Cannes top award
(the Palme D’Or) since 2011.
Madison plays a woman
named Anora.
First, here’s what I know
about the actress. Mikey
Madison is a stage name.
She was born Mikaela
Madison Rosberg. She
was born and raised in Los
Angeles. Her parents are
both psychologists.
I don’t know, now, if her
family was “at all religious.”
Public records reveal that
three of her four grand-
parents were Jewish. Her
maternal grandmother was
not Jewish (it’s possible that
she “converted-in”).
Madison co-starred in Liza
Liza, her first feature film,
in 2015. This little-seen,
coming-of-age romantic film
tanked due to a weak script.
In 2019, she had a smallish,
but very memorable role
in Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood, a huge hit. She
played Sadie, a Manson fam-
ily teen member. Sadie was
one of three Family mem-
bers who Manson sent out
to murder celebrities. In real
life, they killed. In the film,
the three are “intercepted”
by good guys and are killed.
Everyone who saw the film
will remember the Family
member who was killed with
a flame thrower — that mem-
ber was Sadie.
Until now, Madison’s most
seen role was in the FX/
Hulu series Better Things.
It ran for five seasons
(2016-2020; and 2022).
The series was co-created
by Pamela Adlon, now 57.
Adlon starred as Sam Fox,
a Jewish actress who is the
single mother of three young
daughters.
Madison played “Max,”
Sam’s oldest daughter.
Madison didn’t impress me
one way or the other in
Better Things, and I think I
know why. The series was
set up to make us love Sam,
and we love Sam more
when her teen daughters
kvetch at her about “any-
thing.” It’s hard to judge the
acting talent of a constant
“teen kvetcher.”
So, here’s the capsule plot
of Anora. Anora lives in a
part of Brooklyn where many
immigrants from former
Soviet republics have set-
tled. Anora’s parents came
from Uzbekistan, and she
picks up some Russian from
other immigrant neighbors.
As the film opens, Anora
is working as a stripper in
a nightclub, and her boss
pimps her out to Russian-
speaking customers.
She meets Vanya for a
“date.” He’s the spoiled rich
son of a Russian oligarch.
They fall in love, and they
elope. His father is not
happy and does “things.”
Almost every review gush-
es how good Anora, the
film, is — literate, “class-con-
scious” and sometimes
comedic. I could go on.
Likewise, the reviews for
Madison are just terrific. It’s
likely a career-making
performance.
Madison won’t be the next
Scarlett Johansson. She is
an average-looking young
woman. Sure, it doesn’t
hurt to be beautiful, but you
don’t have to be gorgeous
to snare Oscar nominations
and have a great career.
And a Jewish bonus!
Vanya is played by Russian
actor Mark Eydelshteyn,
22. He is often called the
Timothee Chalamet of the
Russian screen — he’s a
tall, thin, “pretty guy” actor.
Reliable sources say that he
is “at least” part Jewish and
he may be “all Jewish.”
Treasure, which opens
in theaters on June 14, is
described as a “come-
dy.” Here’s the capsule
premise: Lena Dunham,
37, plays Ruth, an American
journalist who travels to
Poland with her father, Edek,
to visit his childhood plac-
es. But Edek, a Holocaust
survivor, resists reliving his
trauma and sabotages the
trip creating unintentionally
funny situations.
British actor (and writer)
Stephen Fry, 66, plays Edek.
Fry’s father wasn’t Jewish,
and he didn’t learn that his
mother was Jewish until he
was an adult. He isn’t reli-
gious but does identify as
Jewish.
As I noted in my March
column, Treasure played
a Berlin film festival, and
reviews were not kind. So, I
suggest you just wait for it to
start streaming.
Hannah Einbinder, 29,
was a stand-up comedian
before she became the
co-star (2021) of Hacks, an
HBO/Max series. Hacks
was not a total reach for
Einbinder — she plays a for-
mer stand-up comedian who
writes jokes for a much-old-
er, famous female comedian.
Einbinder has snared two
Emmy acting nominations for
Hacks and the show’s a hit.
So, HBO/Max is rewarding
her with her first (anywhere!)
solo comedy special. Titled
Everything Must Go, it
begins streaming on July 13.
The first time I saw
Einbinder was on Stephen
Colbert’s show, just before
the pandemic hit. She talk-
ed about being Jewish in
her (short) stand-up bit on
Colbert. Here’s hoping she
does that again.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
ARIELAORTIZB
IMDB
ELENA TERNOVAJA
Mikey Madison
Mark Eydelshteyn
Lena Dunham