How Mikey Madison Prepared For Her Role In The Social Reckoning

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0:56not the first nanny. Digger. See the trailer online. Only in the years October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17, not a middle without parent. Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light, and slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

1:37Hi, everybody. This is The Run Through. I'm Chloe Mal, and I am in my hotel in Milan, Casa Brera, with the one and only Mikey Madison. Mikey, thank you so much for joining us today. Oh, Chloe, thank you so much for having me. I want to hear about your experience of the cover shoot because I loved these photos so much. Drew Vickers shot them and Carlos Nazario styled them. What was that experience like for you? It was really exciting. And I'm a true horse girl, like down to my roots. Like I grew up riding at the barn in the dirt, like playing with animals. And so when I heard that this was the theme, I was really, really excited.

2:20I was like, ah, yes. So yeah, I mean, the clothes were so beautiful. And I loved that like just very dry desert landscape that we captured. Some of those photos I'm like gonna cherish forever. And I love the cover. I think it's so unique. And I'm gonna be like 80 years old showing my grandkids like, look, I was really I was cool once. I think my favorite photos on the inside are these ones where I'm wearing this like pink Dior gown. So beautiful. And sort of like twirling and they gave me really long hair. Yeah. Yeah, it was like very whimsical and I loved it. We really went with the horse theme because we were all excited about this.

3:03And I know that you went horseback riding with Marley for the interview. Yeah. Who I really like, by the way. She's the most beloved person at Vogue, bar none. I believe it. Yeah. Have you gone back to writing as your career has progressed? I feel like some women I talk to who come back to writing as a safe space. Like Kendall Jenner competes writing because she's like, it's the place where I'm anonymous. Like no one knows who I am when I'm in the writing outfit with a helmet on. Oh, wow. And she uses a fake name. And she competes still, I think, monthly or something. But I wonder, have you ever thought about going back to writing in a more intense way?

3:45Because you competed. I did, yeah. I competed growing up, and I was on like a specialty agility team. And yeah, that was my life. I haven't competed in eight, ten years maybe. I don't ever see myself competing. I've gotten back into horseback riding because I missed it so much. And I've kind of fallen in love with Western riding. Did you grow up doing English? I grew up English, yeah. Like very classic equestrian. Can you explain for non-horse people what that means? The difference between English and Western. An English saddle has like a smoother, less curved seat. And then the Western has a horn, which is like the biggest distinction.

4:28The stirrups on a Western saddle are bigger and thicker. The stirrups are the things that you put your feet in. And for the English saddle, like they're more streamlined and thin. And so English riding is like all about posture, like elegance. And then a hunter jumper is like how fast you can get through a jumping course. I also loved our video that we did with you and the pony. I loved that too. And thank you for indulging my fantasies of horses and miniature ponies and going with it. It was really a dream. But I have to tell you that I got an amazing call one Monday morning from our head of video letting me know that the pony was underinsured.

5:16And she needed to let me know that she was going to be paying more to insure the pony because apparently this was a high-risk pony. But the pony did great. Yeah, the pony was a little bit of a diva, I have to say. Some real diva behaviors, a bit of attitude. We were all kind of like nervous around the pony. But no, it was like the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. And I have this really extreme obsession with miniature animals. I just like everything miniature. I love and I have no restraint. And there was one point where I was like, I wonder, is this like too, is this too crazy and unhinged and like too many horse pony chihuahua things?

6:06And like, are people going to think that I'm crazy? And then I was like, you know what? This is, you just have to lean into the crazy. And I fully have, I have three chihuahuas. So So I know I want to hear because I'd say when we launched Doge, which is our annual Dog Days of Summer cover package of cover Dogues, it was right when you were starting the Enora press tour. And my colleague Hannah immediately sent me a picture of you walking peaches. And she was like, Doge next year. We have to. And so you were sort of our spirit animal for Doge 2025. and Peaches and Jam really lived up to the challenge, but they were also sort of naughty on set, no?

6:47It was Jam that is like the naughtiest dog of all time. Like he, I love him with so much passion. He is like truly has this like evil streak. This is like my son. Yes, keep going. This is like me describing Alice and Arthur as Peaches and Jam. Yeah, that's so funny. them together would be completely unhinged. Yeah, he's just totally nuts. He has like actual human eyes and like a weird human mouth. It's like very uncomfortable. He stares at me and I'm like, stop staring at me like that. I feel like at one point he's just going to open his mouth and talk. Yes, thank you so much for that cover. I think it is the thing that I'm most proud of in my life.

7:34I literally have it framed in my house. I don't have anything else. Because, yeah, I'm like the proudest dog stage mom of all time. But now you have, we have to start Pony Vogue because Pogue, because you have, oh no, Donkey, Dogue. It's another Dogue. It's another Dogue. Let's, come on, let's get the donkeys on the cover, please. Tell me about these donkeys because I have to say I really have a soft spot for donkeys. I think they're such funny, like ugly stepsisters of the Horace family. I feel like people don't appreciate donkeys as much as they should. I'm so glad that you're recognizing donkeys in this moment and giving them more of a platform and a voice because I agree.

8:18They are like the weird, quirky cousin to the pony. Yeah. But I'm so endeared by them. They're so charming. So charming. So stubborn. Oh, my gosh. so different from horses in like this unbelievable way because now I know everything about how to train a donkey. Wow. Because I pretty much put myself through like, you know, YouTube training school to try and train these guys through rescues. And I don't really know what their life was before I got them. But yeah, they're difficult. The question everyone asks me when they hear I have donkeys is what do you do with them? Honestly, nothing. They're just really cute.

9:05I liked in the piece Marley was like, we sit and watch the donkeys, which is all you do with donkeys. That's all you do. You can like pet them and nuzzle them and brush them a bit and like maybe walk them around if they're amenable. But you recommend being a donkey parent? Sure. Yeah, no, I love them. Where did their names come from? It's Lulu and Gus Freckles. Yes. Thank you for remembering the freckles part because it's a really, he actually has two first names. It's not a middle name. It's a hyphen. Where did the names come from? Lulu, she's my miniature donkey and she's just very sweet and feminine as much as a little donkey can be.

9:48So I wanted to give her a pretty name and then I kind of feel like two syllables is really good for a pet. Mm-hmm. Wasn't it also inspired by the Isabelle Luper role? Yes. Okay. Well, yeah, the film itself I love. And so I was like, oh, maybe I'll do like a little homage to that. I have to say she's a very beautiful donkey. Yeah. And then Gus Freckles. Actually, Sean Baker, I just saw him the other day, my director of Enora. And he brought me this vintage movie poster. And it's this European film. And there's a donkey in it. And the donkey's name is Gus. Totally accidental. Oh, wow. But it's amazing.

10:31And so there is some weird subconscious, like, tether between me naming this donkey and film. Wow. But no, he just seems like a Gus to me. And then he has all these, like, cute little freckles. And so I added it on. And I could keep talking about this for a really long time, so just interrupt me when you get bored. Well, I am going to move on to the movie, but I would— I appreciate that. I understand. I saw the movie a couple of days ago, and I was completely wrapped. I was in a room full of journalists, and everyone was like on the edge of their seat. You play the Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, who actually Vogue did the first big interview with.

11:13And I wonder how much of this story you knew before you read the script. Honestly, I can say I didn't know who Frances was. I had heard about there being a whistleblower. And obviously at the time there was so much news coverage of what was happening. But to me, I think her specifically somehow just slipped under the radar for what I was seeing. And so I read the script and I was blown away by this woman and what she did. And so obviously after I did a ton of research and like devoured as much as I could before meeting Erin. Did you meet her? I haven't met her yet. We've sent some messages to each other back and forth.

12:00How do you send the messages? Email. Yeah. No, but I'm meeting her really soon and I'm excited to meet her in person. But, you know, we live really far apart from each other. But yeah, it'll be really nice. I think I'm going to be kind of starstruck when I meet her. I'm sure. I mean, what a surreal experience. But I know that Sorkin encouraged you not to be too literal in thinking about how you were going to play her, that you brought up that you don't look like her particularly, but that he encouraged you to think about it more as the idea of her rather than literal facets of what she looks like and physicality.

12:41How do you take that advice but also prepare in a productive way? Yeah, the character in the script is inspired by her. And then obviously the events that follow in the film are based on everything that really happened, very honestly. And so when I read the script, I obviously looked her up and I was like, this is someone who physically is so different from me. Blonde, blue eyed, our age difference. And so I was kind of expecting this to be like a big transformation of sorts. And I was like, okay, I was game for that. I was ready for that to be a possibility. But when I met Aaron, he very adamantly didn't want to go in that direction.

13:27He's like, this is an amazing woman, but I really want you to build a character purely from my script. and so that was something I kind of struggled with at first but then at the same time also gave me a lot of freedom to just pretty much create a character from the ground up but obviously this is a incredible very brave heroic woman who sacrificed so much for like the greater good of of people that she doesn't even know and so I was like well to me I'd like to try in some ways to bridge the gap a bit. And so I tried to do that in some small ways, even if it's just for me a bit. Well, because I remember for Enora, you really, you took Russian lessons, you had a stripper pole, you did a lot of work preparing for that.

14:17And I won't call it method acting, but you really got into what Annie would be thinking and feeling. How do you do that for a coder. Yeah, this, especially because there was so much creative liberty in terms of character, personality, and the physical representation of who Frances is in the script. It gave me a lot of freedom to kind of just build things. But obviously, this character is someone who, in the film she talks about this feels most comfortable and herself behind the veil of a computer screen and I was like well that's the biggest thing that I don't relate to personally so I think I kind of just started there you know I think everyone is amazing at something and like with a Nora that really required a big physical transformation which I was very happy to do but for this one I was like I feel like it's more of like an intellectual transformation that I need to try and pull off.

15:20There was a lot of like restraint involved in this character and how she like processes emotions. And so that was something that was intriguing to me. Also like a little bit scary in a way. Yeah. Just as an actress, because I can't say that I've ever really explored that within a character. And so that was one of the first things that I took a lot of time to think about. I wonder how different Sorkin and Sean Baker's sets are, because I think they have very different approaches to running a set and directing. One, you know, that I think of, obviously, is that Sorkin's dialogue is precise to the comma, whereas Sean Baker has been very open that he really wants people to improvise and to write around an actor once he's cast them.

16:06How did that shift work for you? Yeah, completely different experience, like just different planets of creativity, which was really interesting to me. I can't say I've ever had an experience like the one working with Aaron. And like it was very refined, specific, like you mentioned, like the commas and periods. And like that is very much a very intentional part of the dialogue and the rhythm that he likes to utilize in his work. You know, like with Sean, he was like, you know, it was a scrappy experience. Like sometimes there would be scenes that were on the page. And then a lot of times we're like, okay, now I'm go over here.

16:51Let's grab this camera and shoot on the street and do this. There was none of that with this. He had a very specific vision for it. So it was interesting to work with someone who had that kind of process and style. And it was kind of fascinating. And I feel like I really was stretching and controlling my craft in that way. A Tale of Two Jeremies. Tell me about working with Jeremy Strong, who obviously plays Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeremy Allen White, who plays the Wall Street Journal reporter who breaks the story. You're in a lot more scenes with Jeremy Allen White, but I think Jeremy Strong seems like a fascinating person to act across from.

17:31What were those two experiences like? Do they approach roles differently? Yeah, we can just say like Jeremy one and Jeremy two. Who's one? That's a good question. Well, I worked the most with White. So let's say he's number one. um jeremy white very professional he really i really felt like he just showed up in a in a great way like our characters our partners in this really um extreme powerful world changing situation and so i felt like we on set really had that like partnership also just like the amount of dialogue and like the scenes that we had and the specifications of it was so unique I think to us and like I I mean I can't really speak for him but it was seeming like we were both in this like very new experience together and so I really appreciated his work ethic and uh it was really nice and I think his work is wonderful in the film and it's a different character for him too So I like to see him kind of like buttoned up in that way.

18:43And then Strong, number two. I had obviously admired his work on Succession. We only had one day working on set together, but we had kind of been following each other a bit on the press tour. So he was doing a lot of press for his film. Oh, right, The Apprentice? Yeah, and I was bopping around to like different places with the Noron. So we would see each other at different events. And he was so nice, so interesting, like very intense, very deep. Obviously, like I had heard so much about what he was like to work with. And I think it was sort of like this urban legend of sorts of like his very specific process that he has.

19:30And obviously the work he does, the result is pretty incredible. So I was curious about what that was like because it's something that also, at least from just hearing about it, was quite different from mine. Just for people who don't know, Jeremy Strong is well known for really committing to a character across everything he's doing to the point that it can be confusing to some castmates who he doesn't break character when he's at the craft table, etc. Did you find it lived up to the hype? I think, yeah, he's someone who really, really utilizes the method, which is like an entirely different type of training than I have.

20:13I'm like kind of familiar. I worked with some like Stanislavski trained Russian actors who had studied the method. But the like Stanislavski method is like a little bit different than like maybe the American method. Do you want to explain what the method is? I actually started I was curious because I was like actually what is method acting yeah I tried to read a book about it and I was like I can't relate to this like let me move on but from my understanding like I think a big part of Strong's process is like just like a deep immersion into his perception of the character and so Aaron Sorkin had briefed me a little bit on what it might be like.

20:57And I was kind of excited. So I had one day on set where I kind of just got to be like a bit of a background actor in the scene. And so I was kind of just watching and observing. And it was really interesting to witness. I can't say I've ever worked with someone who has that process. But I think that the result in the film is really spectacular and really fascinating uncanny nuances in terms of just like the physicality that is pretty spectacular and I'm excited for for people to uh to watch him I wonder I love hearing about what rap gifts people give and get did you you know I I think I've gotten some like nice notes from people I'm a big gift giver.

21:45I love giving people gifts. It's just very pleasurable for me. And so I'm always like, need to have an ice cream station for the crew. I always do a big wrap gift at the end. What was your wrap gift for Social Reckoning? In the film, my character Francis wears hand warmers and leg warmers. And so I was like, we're in Canada. I got to get everyone some hand warmers. So we did these cool cut-off hand warmers with, like, the social reckoning across it. And I've actually gotten a lot of photos of people using them. Oh, my God, I love that. Which is great, and I love that. So they should sell those as, like, merch for the movie.

22:28Yeah, they should. I'll take, like, 2%, and that's it. Yeah.

22:35We are going to take a short break. We'll be back in a moment.

23:06We'll be right back. Appears October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17 on a minute without parent. Mr. President, my company informed me of the explosion on our rig. On October 2nd. Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me. Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess. And Digger's gonna dig us out. From the director of Birdman and The Revenant. What would happen if I stopped doing it? You stormed. You freeze to death. That's what. With great power comes great deniability. I'm not the first nanny. Digger. See the trailer online. Only in the years October 2nd.

23:41Rated R. Under 17 on a minute without parent. Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find Fall Your Way at Ross.

24:39Watch East of Eden, October 1st, only on Netflix.

24:51I know you talk about the show Better Things as being a really important part of your learning experience and your version of apprenticeship or college. Are you in touch with everyone from that show or the people who you worked with? Oh, gosh, yeah. Those girls are so special. the girls who played my sisters. And I really watched them grow up in this really intense way. And I think we kind of grew up together. So I think we'll always have this kind of tether. And yeah, no, we check in once in a while. And I've seen Olivia, the now woman, which is insane to me because she'll always be like this little girl that like reached my belly button when I first met her.

25:37But we've seen each other a few times, and that's been really nice. Yeah. I mean, I feel that many people are going to bring this up on this press tour, so apologies. But ironically, you don't have any social media, and this is a film about the perils of social media. Is that ever something that you feel pressure to do or that you regret that you don't have any social media presence? because even some actors will have people manage their accounts if they don't want to do it. And some people, it's a huge part of connecting with their fans or promoting their projects. Is that ever a debate you have with yourself?

26:15I can't say that it's ever been a debate. I've had, you know, you mentioned connection and that is something that's very, has always been important to me and has been something that I feel like I've been chasing for my whole life, like connection and intimacy. And like, I want to connect with people like this, like face to face. That's what works for me. Like I want my friends to like pick up the phone and call me. And so that's something that I can relate to. I've never had any regrets about not being on social media. It's just something that personally works the best for me. Do you have any experience with Facebook?

26:57Were Were you on Facebook as a teenager? Did you, is your family on Facebook? Yeah. I mean, I think maybe my dad is, my grandma probably. Yeah, I did. I remember I turned 13 and I don't think Instagram was really like a thing yet. It's strange because I feel like I'm kind of like the last part of my generation that like grew up mostly without social media. Yeah. which I feel grateful for. I can't imagine what it's like today to be like 13 years old and have all of that power and like accessibility just in the palm of your hand. But yeah, no, I think I turned 13 and I feel like at the time that was the age that you could make a Facebook or maybe that was when my parents said I could.

27:48And so I think it was just like a way to communicate with friends yeah but um I don't have it anymore yeah I don't have friends anymore no luckily I do but I have to say I think that me not being on social media it makes my circle smaller yeah like I don't think that there's as much like reach like I'm not constantly seeing like what people are doing or able to just like send a message at the click of a button like if you really know me you have my phone number and I kind of like it that way. Yeah. But I do have Pinterest which I love. Oh, what do you use Pinterest for? I'm a big lover of making mood boards.

28:29Okay. And I really believe in manifestation and I'm a very visual person and so constantly making mood boards and I'll send them to people. What's the most recent mood board? I'm doing this film when I get back to Los Angeles called My Darling California and I'm playing a kind of country type woman. Okay. And so I've been kind of curating and crafting like certain things I want. Like, oh, I like this kind of vintage cross necklace. Maybe we can do something like that. And you'll share that with the costume designer? Yeah, or hair and makeup. I'll share it with the director. And so like visually, I think when I'm putting all the pieces together in my head, I'm able to just kind of like grab little things and be like, oh, this is something that's going to work.