Behind the Scenes with Sean Baker: A Sugar-Fueled Extravaganza
For W’s Directors Issue, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker of Anora transformed Madison and Hoyeon into relentless, donut-obsessed adventurers. Directed by Sean Baker, with photographs by Alexis Zabe and styling by Allia Alliata di Montereale, this shoot set its scene at the nostalgic Donut Hut, a classic corner stop in Burbank, California. Sean Baker, acclaimed writer/director of Anora, which has garnered six Oscar nominations, was busy planning a key shot with Mikey Madison, the star of his film. Parked recklessly nearby was a vintage burnt-orange Ford Pinto from the ’70s, complete with tattered leather seats and fuzzy dice swinging from its mirror. Meanwhile, Randall Park, playing the oblivious donut shop owner, methodically wiped the red picnic tables beneath the shop’s distinctive red and yellow awning.
Madison, dressed in a striking JW Anderson blue satin minidress paired with red heels, shaded her eyes from the glaring sun, and confidently closed the door of her getaway vehicle. “Alright, you’re on a mission,” Baker encouraged her. “You’re set to take down this place! Devour as many donuts as you can!” Excitement sparkled in Baker’s eyes as he watched Madison on the monitor. His wife and producer, Samantha Quan, stood by his side with their Chihuahua mix, Bunsen. “This concept is about these wild donut bandits who come here daily,” Baker elaborated about the W photoshoot’s storyline. “The poor shop owner is constantly besieged by these models who emerge from nowhere.” He affectionately named Madison’s character Sprinklelina.
Completing Madison’s duo of accomplices were Squid Game star Hoyeon and rising talent Conor Sherry, whom Baker had recently noticed in the 2024 indie Snack Shack. Baker’s straightforward direction was a blend of spaghetti western meets The Walking Dead, but with a sugary twist. “Instead of going after humans, they crave donuts,” he laughed. “I’m leaning into comedy more these days, so why not dive all the way in?” Donut shops have a special place in Baker’s cinematic world. They serve as meeting venues for sex workers in Tangerine, his 2015 sensation shot entirely on an iPhone that took Sundance by storm, and as the locale where a washed-up porn star stumbles upon a teenage cashier named Strawberry in 2021’s Red Rocket.
Yet, Baker insists he harbors no particular attachment to donut shops. “I don’t even eat donuts!” he claimed, though Quan playfully countered, “He totally does.” Baker aimed for the W shoot to resemble a series of film stills, which prompted his collaboration with Alexis Zabe, the cinematographer known for crafting the enchanting visuals in Baker’s 2017 film, The Florida Project. “I want people to think, ‘Oh, did Sean release a new movie?’” he explained. Often mistaken as part of a younger director crowd due to his casual appearance, Baker is already a seasoned filmmaker with eight films to his name at the age of 53. He had long been intrigued by setting a story in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach long before dreaming up Anora. His initial concept of a Russian gangster comedy evolved over time into what became Anora, influenced by meeting real-life “Ani types”.
When Madison, Hoyeon, and Sherry stormed the donut shop—Madison banging on the glass, Hoyeon with a menacing sneer, and Sherry lumbering like a zombie—Baker orchestrated the chaos behind rows of donuts in an array of flavors and colors. Madison somersaulted trays of donuts into her mouth, while Hoyeon perched on a counter, taunting Park’s hapless shop owner. The floor soon vanished under a sea of sugar and sprinkles. “Yes!” Baker shouted in delight as Madison’s face contorted into a sinister grin. “I love that unhinged look!” As the frenzy unfolded, he mused that the shop owner ought to call the police. “Do we have a landline around here?” he wondered.
While Anora includes its share of humor, it also induces stress akin to the intensity of William Friedkin’s The French Connection. Baker attributes his focus on urban tension and the untamed pockets of America to growing up in suburban New Jersey. As a child, accompanying his father, a patent attorney, to Manhattan, they would traverse the Lincoln Tunnel into the wild, neon-lit landscape of 42nd Street’s adult theaters and flashing signs of the late ’70s. He hopes Anora’s success will help demonstrate that he doesn’t need conventional Hollywood formulas to craft compelling stories. However, multitasking isn’t his forte, as he admitted to feeling the pressure while balancing the editing of a friend’s film alongside preparations for the W shoot.