Anora Star Mikey Madison Surprises as Best Actress Winner at BAFTAs, Says She’ll ‘Always Be an Ally’ to Sex Workers

Mikey Madison won big at the BAFTAs!

The breakthrough star is this year’s lead actress winner for her work in Anora at the 78th annual  British Academy Film Awards ceremony, hosted by David Tennant, on Feb. 16 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. During her speech, she gave a powerful shout-out to the sex worker community.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Madison, 25, said as she took the stage. “I probably should have listened to my publicist and wrote a speech or something.” She first thanked director Sean Baker, saying, “I just adore you. You are an incredible person. I know you don’t like it when I praise you, but I have to just for a second. You’re so wonderful. You literally made my dreams come true.”

The actress continued to name others on her team before thanking her mom, who was not in attendance at the award show. “She’s not here, but she has driven me to literally hundreds of auditions, helped me put so many on tape, always helps me memorize my lines, and she’s my favorite scene partner. I love you,” she said.

Madison added, “To my fellow nominees, I’m just so in awe of all of you. You just gave beautiful performances. And really, the highlight of all of this has been getting to know all of you.”

Lastly, the actress said, “I want to take a moment to recognize the sex worker community. You deserve respect and human decency. I will always be a friend and an ally, and I implore others to do the same. Thank you so much.”

Also in the running for BAFTA’s lead film actress prize this year were Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths, Demi Moore for The Substance and Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun.

Of those, Erivo, Gascón and Madison are also nominated at the upcoming Oscars, with the critically acclaimed Jean-Baptiste notably absent from that list.

Madison leads writer-director Sean Baker’s comedy-drama in the titular role, a stripper and sex worker experiencing a whirlwind Cinderella story. The actress has also recieved nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and more.

She recently spoke with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview for the 2025 Oscar Portfolio and said she’s “definitely” been getting some exciting offers since the film debuted last year to great acclaim.

“There are some things that I am really excited about and have my fingers crossed,” shared the L.A. native and first-time Oscar nominee.

“My biggest dream is to continue a career in film,” added Madison. “And so, I’m really hopeful that this year I’ll get to keep doing that.”

As for Anora, the actress said that movie “really changed the way that I want to make movies, and really changed how I want to feel when I’m working on something… I’m really just chasing this, I don’t know, this very specific feeling, this joy.”

Jean-Baptiste reunited with legendary director Mike Leigh for Hard Truths 28 years after their movie Secrets & Lies, which nabbed her an Oscar nomination. In the indie she plays Pansy, “a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way,” according to a synopsis.

For leading Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror satire The Substance, Moore has been on a roll this awards season, picking up wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards and earning her first Oscar nomination ahead of the March 2 Academy Awards ceremony. The film centers on Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkles, a Hollywood actress who takes an illicit substance to create a younger version of herself played by Margaret Qualley.

Gascón, 52, was not in attendance at the BAFTAs following recent controversy over her resurfaced social media posts criticizing Muslim culture, George Floyd, diversity and more. The Spanish Emilia Pérez star, who made history as the first openly transgender acting contender at several awards shows, deactivated her X (formerly) account on Jan. 31, and made various statements and interviews before apologizing and vowing silence on Feb. 6.

Recognized with multiple nominations for her work as Elphaba a.k.a. the so-called Wicked Witch of the West, Erivo, 38, was last seen at the BAFTAs in 2019 for the organization’s rising star award.

Wicked: Part One, director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, costars BAFTA nominee Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good Witch. Part Two, titled Wicked: For Good, hits theaters Nov. 21.

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Ronan, 30, is no stranger to the BAFTAs, with now six total acting nominations; for also producing The Outrun, the Irish actress has a seventh nod for outstanding British film of the year. She leads the Nora Fingscheidt-helmed adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir as a woman battling alcoholism in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. The four-time Oscar nominee was skipped over by the Academy this year.

See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 77th British Academy Film Awards, airing on BBC One in the UK and BritBox in North America.