“Anora” is a fairy tale. It's also a Cinderella story for director Sean Baker.

Sean Baker is fierce. For years, the writer and director has been making independent films about marginalized groups, from undocumented immigrants to sex workers. He casts his own films and collaborates with friends and talent he finds on social media. His 2015 film mandarin was filmed exclusively with iPhones.

“Sometimes (inspiration) comes from a selfish place of doing what I want to explore and learn,” he told Yahoo Entertainment. “I want to learn more about certain subcultures or microcosms because they are not shown in the media. My films are therefore a reaction to what I don’t see enough of.”

Thanks to the success of his 2024 film Anora, For his film, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, he no longer has to turn to more mainstream or family-friendly themes. The twisted fairy tale about a stripper's whirlwind romance with a Russian billionaire is, in a way, Baker's own Cinderella story.

Baker told Yahoo Entertainment that “winning the Palme d'Or has really allowed me to stay in my lane.” He doesn't know what's next, but it will be all he wants to do.

“There is no resistance. All resistance has been eliminated,” he said. “I can actually continue to make the types of films I want to make in the way I want to make them.”

Many of Baker's projects have received critical acclaim Red rocket And The Florida Project, But Anoras Awards are on another level. Baker is the film's writer and director, but several members of the cast were involved in the film's creation.

Baker chose Mikey Madison as his star before he even wrote the script.

“My wife and producer Samantha Quan…we always have our casting hats on and are looking for people everywhere,” he said. “It can be on the street or in films. In this case, I saw her in both Once upon a time…in Hollywood And Scream, and… I made the decision there. She is our Anora.”

In both films, Madison plays a cheerfully violent killer, but Baker says she's actually “pretty shy and quiet” in real life. They shared a sense of humor and love of film, and he was keen to be one of the first to showcase their “incredible range.”

“I’ve never had a director want to work with me the way he did,” Madison told Yahoo Entertainment. “At first I was a little shy about feeling comfortable enough to share my ideas… but eventually I got to a point where I was like, 'I love this character.' I love this story. I love Sean. I'm just going to fully commit to this process with him.'”

“We were able to work together and create this character together,” she added.

Baker provided Madison with consultants and experts to help her prepare for portraying a sex worker, but Madison took it a step further. She wanted Anora to look like a confident and “experienced dancer,” so she spent months learning how to twerk, pole dance and give lap dances. She read memoirs, watched documentaries and even learned Russian, a skill that sets her character apart from the other dancers at the strip club where she works.

“I knew I had to dedicate myself as much as I could and put all my energy into these things to make it happen in a real and honest way,” Madison said. “The pressure I felt was pressure put on myself because I admire this community so much. I have a lot of respect for sex workers and what they do.”

Two other members of the film's main cast also signed on before getting a script – both playing men hired by Anora's new in-laws to investigate her marriage. One of these was Yura Borisov, a Russian actor whose performance Baker enjoyed Compartment number 6.

The other was Karren Karagulian, who has appeared in all of Baker's films. He lives in Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn neighborhood where Anora is located and is home to many Russian immigrants.

“Brighton Beach is gentrifying… but I feel like we've caught the last glimpse of its fading charm,” Karagulian told Yahoo Entertainment.

“That’s where I went when I came to this country 150 years ago,” he added jokingly.

Mark Eydelshteyn was cast as Anora's lover Ivan after an unusual audition in which he told Yahoo Entertainment that he thought he had been butchered. He recorded a tape of himself acting out a scene, but because he was nervous and didn't know much English, he kept taking puffs on his vape pen and switching languages.

“I didn't have any clothes to look like Ivan, so I had to go topless,” Eydelshteyn told Yahoo Entertainment. “I vape because it's stressful and it makes me feel like myself.”

He said he sent in his self-tape and then tried to forget about it “like a terrible dream.” But Baker loved the chaos and vulnerability, and he got the part, completing a motley cast of slightly out-of-place actors who were passionate about the project.

“I didn’t have to direct much because they all understood their characters so well,” Baker said. “There wasn’t a single toxic person on set. Everyone was there to do their best and we were all on the same page.”

Anora is now in the cinema.