'I didn't want to be in a bad stripper film': Sex workers eye Oscars success

In 2022, Luna Sofia Miranda met Sean Baker at a strip club in New York, attempting to charm him. However, according to Miranda, Baker "was very clear that he did not want to buy a lap dance."

Miranda, then 23, began asking the couple why they were there. "I'm just a curious person," she said, "so I kept asking them questions, and finally learned that they were shooting a movie about strippers." She told them she had studied acting, and after a successful audition, she received a call on her 24th birthday, inviting her to be in the film.

The film, titled "Anora," is now considered one of the frontrunners at Sunday's Oscars. Directed by Baker and starring Mikey Madison, who received a Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of a New York stripper, the 25-year-old Madison sought help from real-life strippers to perfect her role.

Last month, when Madison won a BAFTA award, she dedicated the award to the sex worker community. "Through researching this film, I had the opportunity to meet some people from this community, and it was one of the most incredible parts of making this film," she told us backstage. She added that they "deserve respect and they often don't get it. So I had to say something."

We interviewed actresses, strippers, and dancers in the film to learn about their experiences during filming and their thoughts on the finished product. Some praised the film for its authenticity, especially in its portrayal of the rejection and exhaustion that sex workers often feel. But others said the film was "limited."

Edie Turquet was initially unsure about participating in the film. The 21-year-old Brit, who had a role as a child in the "Harry Potter" spin-off film "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," now lives in New York and works as a student and stripper. A casting agent discovered her at the club where she worked and invited her to play a supporting dancer in "Anora." But Turquet said she hesitated to show up the night before filming.

"I didn't want to be involved in a bad stripper movie, or do anything that would be detrimental to our industry, so I was very worried," she told me. "Most movies about strippers are either overly glamorized, or they're just bad and exploitative." Edie mentioned the 2020 film "Zola," about a waitress who goes to Florida for a weekend of stripping to make quick money. "I found it very exaggerated, completely over-glamorized the job, and felt like it was demeaning to women," she said. "And then there's 'Pretty Woman,' which annoys me, especially the idea of Julia Roberts playing a street prostitute. Please."

But when Turquet realized that "Anora" was a Sean Baker film, she changed her mind. "His films are based in realism, and he has a detached style of filming, which I love," she said. "So I joined." Baker's filmmaking techniques were also what attracted Lindsey Normington to participate in the film. The actress and stripper plays Diamond, Anora's workplace nemesis.

She said she saw him at a party after a film premiere and went up to him to tell him she was a fan. They connected on Instagram, and months later, he contacted her to tell her he might have a role in a new film for her. "I fell to my knees in my house," Normington said.

In the film, Anora gets a fairytale escape when she meets and falls in love with the son of a wealthy Russian man. Miranda, an actress and stripper who plays Anora's best friend Lulu, said her task was to help Madison sound like a real New York sex worker. "I shared a PDF of language and slang that only New York strippers would know," she said.

One of the words was "whale," which Miranda explained "refers to a customer who is like a bottomless pit, who will give you a great night. And he won't make you work too hard for it." Also involved in the film was Kenna Lyn Schneider, a Los Angeles-based stripper and choreographer, who trained Madison to dance.

She said Madison installed a pole in her home in Los Angeles, and the two began working on her "sexy dancing." "She put in a lot of work," said Schneider, 28. "She was very determined." Miranda said that many of the film's themes, about heartbreak and rejection, resonated with her.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm a shiny toy that people want to play with. They'll say, 'Wow, you're a stripper. You're so cool.' And then they toss you aside, discard you," she said. "I often think about the ending because I feel like I'm a lot like Anora." Turquet agreed, calling the ending "very fitting and poignant," adding that it accurately depicted the "exhaustion and fatigue" that strippers often feel.

"There's inherent trauma in the sex industry. It feels so real. It's a very vulnerable industry," she said. "Every time you go to work, you put yourself at risk. It's a complex and exhausting job." But overall, she had mixed feelings about the film. "A lot of stripper movies ignore — and 'Anora' begins to, but doesn't delve into — the ethics surrounding the men who are buying sex," she said.

"It's about the question of consent. Most movies shy away from answering that question, or delving into it." She said she was also frustrated that the characters "never existed outside of their profession." "\[Anora] is a very limited character," she said. "We never learn anything about her. The film defines who she is from the perspective of \[the male protagonist] Igor and Vanya."

"It's better than any movie I've ever seen about it, but ultimately it's still limited because it's not told by sex workers," she added. "I can't wait for us to tell our own stories, and hopefully this opens the door for it." For Normington, the film reflected the "insecurities, competition, and jealousy" that she had personally experienced in the clubs. "I appreciated that it wasn't trying to be a typical stripper movie."

Meanwhile, for Schneider, the film's portrayal of the mundane nature of the work resonated. In early scenes in the film, we see Anora at work, talking to customers at the club. We also see her and the other strippers on their lunch break, eating food from Tupperware boxes in the back room. "It felt really accurate," Schneider said.

"A lot of times, in \[stripper] movies, you see money falling from the ceiling, it's full of glamour. Those moments do happen, but they're rare," she said. "It's more of a quiet hustle." When "Anora" was released, special screenings were held for sex workers in New York and Los Angeles.

Videos circulating on social media showed strippers raising their high-heeled platform shoes above their heads, clacking them together to show their appreciation at the end of the screenings. "It was the most beautiful applause I've ever received, and I don't know if it will ever happen again," Madison told us. Now, all eyes are on the Oscars.

Miranda and Normington will both be attending. "It's kind of silly to think that I'm going to the Oscars, but \[at the same time] I'm still in the club arguing over $20 with a stupid man," Miranda said. "I feel like I live two lives." She said Madison's statement that the sex worker community doesn't get the respect it deserves was "spot on," and said she hopes the success of "Anora" can change that.

"I hope if this movie wins an Oscar, it marks the beginning of a shift in Hollywood, where sex workers are respected, both as workers in their field and as entertainers," she said. "If this movie wins an Oscar, I hope to see that."