Sean Baker Didn’t Pick Up on the Similarities Between ‘Anora’ and ‘Pretty Woman’ Until Halfway Through Production

Sean Baker hit the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, September 8 to premiere his Palme d’Or-winning film “Anora,” following its world premiere at Cannes and North American premiere at Telluride. The film follows Mikey Madison in an Oscar-friendly performance as an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.

Many have compared the film to Garry Marshall’s “Pretty Woman,” but for Baker, he doesn’t completely see it that way. “There are definitely similarities between this film and ‘Pretty Woman,'” Baker told IndieWire. “Honestly, I didn’t even pick up on that until halfway through production and somebody called it out and I was like, ‘Oh, okay. Yeah, I see that.'”

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“But I didn’t want it in any way to affect me,” Baker continued. “I didn’t want to be influenced by it. So I decided to not revisit it and to tell you the truth, I still haven’t revisited it, so I haven’t seen it since 1990. I’m going to wait, let all the dust settle from ‘Anora,’ and then I’ll rent it next, whenever.”

Baker, who historically has liked to put a spotlight on sex workers in his films, consulted with sex worker Andrea Werhun for the project. “I think no matter what subject matter you’re tackling, if you’re not a part of that world or a part of that community, it’s vital to have consultants, who have that life experience, on board and make sure that you’re representing [it] in an accurate way, a responsible way, a respectful way,” he said.

“In this case, we had Andrea Werhun, who is actually Toronto-based. It’s really special, she’s seeing the film tonight. I’m executive producing her feature film ‘Modern Whore,’ the memoir that actually got us interested in bringing her on as a consultant. Mikey talked to her, she consulted with Mikey, and also we had a lot of other consultants who are actually in the film: dancers, sex workers, etc. Its is very, very important in order to make something feel real.”

In a recent interview with IndieWire’s Anne Thompson, Baker was vocal about wanting to stay as independent as he can. “I’ve made it clear I’m pretty independent. No, really, I’m not joking.”

At the TIFF premiere, he emphasized that anecdote. When I asked him about if he wants to stay clear from big studios, Baker said, “Yes, I mean, I’m not trying to hide it anymore. We like making independent films and using the old school model of independently producing these movies, going to a film festival, and trying to sell it. I love that old model. I don’t know why it’s changed and so we’re trying to keep that alive.”

In David Ehrlich’s review of the film, he writes that it “has next to nothing to do with romance, and almost everything to do with the kind of working-class heartache that a modern Hollywood studio would never even try to get right.”

Neon is set to release “Anora” in theaters on October 18.

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