Hollywood’s award season is a battlefield where stars walk the fine line between victory and obscurity. As the Dolby Theatre braces for another night of golden glory, A-listers sharpen their smiles and steady their nerves, all vying for that coveted moment: “...and the Oscar goes to..” Amidst the familiar frenzy, Oscar-nominee Mikey Madison took a detour down memory lane on a road paved with near-misses and career cliffhangers. Despite sharing the screen in a Quentin Tarantino spectacle, she once found herself stranded in industry limbo.

As Madison now stands on the precipice of Oscar gold, she reflects on the days when the dream just felt out of reach.

On a recent episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter, Oscar frontrunner Mikey Madison conjured some cinematic ghosts of the past, including her experience on Quentin Tarantino’s star-studded Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Upon being asked if the project had an “immediate effect” on her career and opportunities, Madison nodded with a big no. “I didn’t work for years after that,” Madison responded. 

The Anora actor recounted that the opportunity invited a shift for sure, but it was within herself as an actor, not how Hollywood sees her as one. “Being on set with him really reinvigorated my love for filmmaking,” Madison mused, adding Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a wake-up call for her to realize what she wanted from the industry. The host wondered if the pandemic was to blame, but Madison was not having it, explaining not every showbiz plan lands perfectly.

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While things may not have turned out as Mikey Madison hoped for in the aftermath of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, she still sees it as a one-of-a-kind opportunity. 

In her conversation with The Hollywood Reporter on the Awards Chatter, Mikey Madison reflected on working with Quentin Tarantino in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Though it may not have had directors lining up on her doorsteps the very next day, it brought a gift that eclipses her own for Tarantino. According to Madison, the role of Sadie may have been “small” but moved “the needles ever so slightly that maybe directors would see me in a different way.”

Madison mused that the role Tarantino trusted her with might have had directors giving her the shot for something else. Of course, the artistic desertion had her questioning herself and whether she belonged. However, the Academy Awards nomination list of 2025 answers that for Madison, who stuck by showbiz through thick and thin even when it deemed her non-existent for years. 

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Did you know Mikey Madison did not work for years after Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Let us know in the comments below!