Mikey Madison is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for her powerful lead performance in a new incarnation of Ghostface, Amber Freeman, in Scream.
Anora has made Madison a bigger star than ever. Sean Baker’s darkly comedic tale of an exotic dancer who impulsively marries a Russian oligarch’s immature son is tipped to be a major contender come awards season. It’s expected to land a Best Picture nomination, a Best Director nomination for Baker, and a Best Actress nomination for Madison. Madison gives one of the finest performances of the year, rounding Ani out as a real human being with depth and vulnerability, but she got her breakout role eight years ago in Better Things.
Before Anora, Mikey Madison Got Her First Big Break In Pamela Adlon's Better Things
Madison Plays Adlon's Oldest Daughter, Max
Eight years before starring in Anora, Madison got her big break with the role of Max Fox in Pamela Adlon’s semi-autobiographical series Better Things on FX. Adlon stars as Sam, a working actor and single mother trying to balance her career with her responsibilities as a parent. She has three daughters: Duke, the youngest (and sweetest), played by Olivia Edward; Frankie, the rebellious middle child, played by Hannah Alligood; and Max, the oldest (and most volatile), played by Madison. Sam’s mother, played by Celia Imrie, lives next door and helps out with the kids, because their absentee father is useless.
From 2016 to 2022, Better Things ran for 52 episodes across five seasons.
Better Things is about the trials and tribulations of being a working single parent. Sam has to juggle raising her kids with keeping a roof over their heads — and not lose her mind in the process. The cast shares spectacular on-screen chemistry; it’s fully believable that these are Sam’s kids and she’s their mother and, in spite of their bickering, they really love each other. In 2017, the series won a Peabody Award for its raw, groundbreaking portrayal of motherhood. It’s a shame that, despite its universal acclaim, the show wasn’t a bigger hit with viewers.
Better Things Exemplifies Madison's Range
Max Is A Well-Rounded, Three-Dimensional Character
The role of Max showed off Madison’s acting range early in her career. Most of the teenage characters seen in TV comedies are one-dimensional stock characters — whether they’re ditsy or rebellious or smart, they tend to be one-note — but Max is a well-rounded, three-dimensional character. She has a short temper, but at her core, she’s a good person. She’s outwardly very brash and confident, but deep down, she’s insecure. Her relationship with her mother is deeply complex; they’re constantly arguing with each other, but there’s also a clear love and comion between them.
The 10 Best Quotes From FX's Better Things
From lines that range from the funny to the serious to the profound, the best quotes in FX's Better Things offer something everyone can relate to.
Across Better Things’ 52 episodes, Madison had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate her range. The show’s comedic material gave her a chance to showcase her pitch-perfect comic timing (which is what made Anora such a laugh riot), but the more dramatic scenes gave her a chance to do some real acting, too. It’s truly a tour-de-force performance — it’s no wonder why Madison is finally becoming a big star.
Better Things Perfects The Same Tonal Balance As Anora
It Has A Lot Of Humor, But It's Also A Genuinely Touching And Heartfelt Drama
What makes Anora so great is its spot-on tonal balance. It’s a tender, touching character drama, but it also has more laughs than most of the year’s straightforward comedies — especially once Toros and his goons show up. Madison managed that tonal balance brilliantly, getting huge laughs in the comedic moments and tugging on the audience’s heartstrings in the dramatic moments, and carrying the character through those jarring shifts. Madison had already nailed this tonal balance in Better Things, which does the same.
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Like The Bear and Succession, Better Things always defied TV’s binary genre categorization of comedy and drama, because it switched between being laugh-out-loud hilarious comedy and tragic, tearjerking drama. It’s jam-packed with great gags and one-liners, but it also finds plenty of time to hit its audience in the feels. Like Sean Baker’s previous movies, the best genre classification to describe Anora is “slice-of-life” — and Better Things is the same. Much like Baker, Adlon writes characters that feel like living, breathing human beings, and in both projects, Madison knocked those roles out of the park.
Better Things
- Release Date
- 2016 - 2022-00-00
- Network
- FX
Cast
Celia Imrie
Mikey Madison
Olivia Edward
WHERE TO WATCH
Created by Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K, Better Things is a Black Comedy that was released in 2016 and ran for five seasons before ending in 2022. The series stars Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood, and Pamela Adlon. The series revolves around a mother and her three feisty daughters.
- Seasons
- 5
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