Academy Award-winning actress Mikey Madison has revealed the intriguing reason why she didn’t meet Frances Haugen before playing her in this year’s “The Social Reckoning.”
Haugen 42, is the movie’s main character in the adaptation of the true story of the 2021 Facebook leak.
Per IMDb, the movie’s plot is as follows: “Follows Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets.”
Madison, 27, who won her Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the eponymous stripper Anora “Ani” Mikheeva in the 2024 romantic comedy-drama “Anora,” does a fantastic job as Haugen in the narrative companion piece and spiritual sequel to 2010’s “The Social Network.”
The star spoke to People to reveal why it wasn’t until just before the movie’s release that she finally met Haugen.
Mikey Madison Wanted to Use Her Imagination in Her Portrayal of Frances Haugen
In her chat with People about “The Social Reckoning”, Mikey Madison revealed the reason she didn’t meet Frances Haugen until after filming of the movie in which she portrays her was complete.
Madison began, “The character I play, Frances, is based off of Frances Haugen. Obviously, it follows [Haugen’s] story and all of the events very closely.”
She continued, explaining her reasons for joining the movie’s cast. Madison said she “fell in love” with the script and elaborated, adding, “I felt like the story was incredibly important. So I met with Aaron [director Aaron Sorkin] and immediately told him I wanted to be a part of it.”
At the time of her chat with People, Madison hadn’t actually met Haugen, and had only corresponded with her by email. She was, however, looking forward to their eventual meeting. They have now met (at the movie’s premiere, for starters).
She then revealed why the meeting was left until after filming was complete, explaining, “I think that it was very clear from the beginning that I was going to be playing the character based on his screenplay, not the Frances that I would meet over Zoom… I just wanted to utilize my imagination. And then when we were wrapped, I quickly reached out to her.”
Madison’s chat with People also revealed that she thought Haugen was “incredible” and “completely fabulous.”
Critical & Fan Reaction to ‘The Social Reckoning’
While Mikey Madison’s portrayal of Frances Haugen has been praised, the overall critical and fan reaction to “The Social Reckoning” has been mixed.
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has earned a fairly underwhelming score of 55% from critics. Its fan score on the review aggregator website is a far more encouraging 73%.
David Fear of Rolling Stone epitomizes the mixed critical view of the film, saying, “It’s a compilation of the best and the worst of Sorkin, bellowed into a microphone that’s giving off a tad too much feedback.”
For Madison, “The Social Reckoning” is her only acting credit of 2026. She does, however, have two confirmed movies on the way.
In 2027, she will star in Charlie Polinger’s dark comedy movie “The Masque of the Red Death.” She will also appear in Elijah Bynum’s crime thriller film “My Darling California.” That one doesn’t yet have a release date.
We look forward to seeing all of Madison’s upcoming work.
Mikey Madison’s filmography info was courtesy of IMDb.
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Mikey Madison Reveals Why She Didn’t Meet Frances Haugen Before Playing Her in ‘The Social Reckoning’