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This interview was published on November 15, 2024.
Spoilers follow for the filmAnora.
At first, their dynamic is fraught.
6, was the second actor cast inAnoraafter Karagulian.
He recommendedMark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan, to Baker.
(The two also lived together in New York during production.)
AsOscar buzzbuilds around his performance, Borisov just wrapped another project in Russia,Devyataya Planeta.
But his theories about whether the two try out a relationship?
Those hell keep to himself.
Sean wrote the role for you before he finished the script.
What was your first meeting with him like?Im trying to remember.
We did some Zooms.
It was the first time someone from America, a director, called me.
He said that he had seenCompartment No.
Ive not seen his films before our meeting.
I know nothing about Sean.
I started to see his films and enjoy his films.
That was the reason for me not his script, but the energy of his films.
Did he tell you anything about Igor during that first meeting?I think no.
Thats not so important for me.
More important is the connection with someone.
Because sometimes you see the film, and its just the film.
[Laughs] It could be more good or not, but you dont feel some energy.
And in his films, I feel energy.
You get the script months later.
I know you translated it for yourself.
But for me, I dont feel that its a super-classic story.
I feel that it could be a great experience.
Its a lot of characters, and my character comes only in the second part.
When Igor is born, that came more later, when we were in New York.
During our shooting, its a lot of freedom, lots of improvisation on the set.
Igor is being born during everything on the set.
Did you have certain emotions you wanted to come through when you were looking at her?
[Laughs] Its easy.
I just looked at her, and thats it.
So Im overthinking it.The fact is that.
And its magic, you know?
When you just look at someone, they are changing every second, and youre changing with them.
For Igor, Anora is the center.
I understand that I just have to keep my attention to her, and thats it.
If you really love someone, you know everything about what he or she does.
Attention is trying to help if she needs.
And you start understanding that its love, you know?
So Igors attention for her is a sign of his love.
[Laughs] If she needs to be alone sometimes, hes trying to keep her alone.
If she needs protection, its protection.
If she needs to talk with someone, he would talk.
People can read it in many different ways.
Im wondering how you interpreted it.
Its not objective from my side.
I can respect that.
That allows us to decide.
Let me ask you this: Do you think Ani and Igor would ever see each other again?
[Laughs]
I have to try!We could have a try, but not inside an interview.
It was long, and not one day.
Its a very strong moment for Anora, and for Mikey as an actress.
You see it on the screen only one time and you feel something.
Its not easy that many times.
You have to say, Okay, again, like its never happened.
Youre just inside, youre just going somewhere, and every second is a new second.
You dont know what was the last second, like in real life.
I absolutely have no idea what was in our takes.
But Im happy about it.
I think that was a special moment.
Its like real theater.
There wasa piece inThe New Yorkerthat said that you kept getting stopped by fans during the movies production.
Were you surprised by how recognized you were?It was mostly Russian people.
But Im not so happy about this, because its not about Igor, its not about the character.
Igor is called a gopnik in the film.
For people who dont speak Russian, could you explain what that is?
Hes very aggressive, and very stupid.
[Laughs]
You recommended Mark for this movie.
You two lived together during the production.
He calls you an older brother.
Its a day when you say good-bye to the winter; the start of spring is coming.
We burn a doll that is like a symbol of winter.
you’re free to make it from old clothes and some wood, whatever you want.
We did it in upstate with Mark and someone from our crew.
After that, we were cooking pancakes with Mark.
Its very different for everybody.
But its too early to say something I need some time to understand the reaction.
Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred toCompartment No.
6as winner of the Cannes Film Festivals Palm dOr award.
It won the festivals Grand Prix award.
