Anora, one of 2024’s best movies, has a lot of recognizable people who were part of the indie flick. Its lead, Mikey Madison, first starred in movies like Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood and Scream and Sean Baker directed hits like The Florida Project and Red Rocket. However, an eagle-eyed fan recognized Samantha Quan, one of Anora’s producers who accepted the award for Best Picture, in a rom-com she was once in.
Samantha Quan has been a big help to her husband, Sean Baker’s, career in co-producing his movies, including Anora. But, one fun fact about the Canadian indie film producer was revealed in @lizzzzzielogan’s Instagram video of where else she’s seen her in and it’s a memorable 2000s rom-com:
Now, that’s upbeat! It’s incredibly mind-blowing how under-the-radar her How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days role was. And now, here she is producing movies with her husband, Sean Baker, that have gotten serious award recognition. Samantha Quan’s journey shows how unexpected career paths can take from taking on small roles in film and TV to her behind-the-scenes contributions to award-winning movies.
One of the best acceptance speeches of the 2025 Oscars came from Quan when Anora became an Academy Award winner for Best Picture. She made sure to express how important it was for filmmakers to continue telling the moving stories they want to tell. Whether it’s the child perspectives of those who live in motels in The Florida Project, the life of a newly retired porn star in Red Rocket, or a stripper searching for Cinderella happiness in Anora, the movies Quan produces with Sean Baker shed light on marginalized voices not always seen in high-budget movies.
Seeing Samantha Quan at the forefront of accepting Anora’s Best Picture shows how important women are in the filmmaking space. Through their vision, they can tell stories about characters that go unnoticed in mainstream movies. For example, Best Picture winner director of Nomadland, Chloé Zhao, said she used her experiences as an outsider moving to the West from China to help her make her movie about those who live as migrants
The same was said with the game-changing movie The Hurt Locker, which brought director Kathryn Bigelow’s perspective to a male-dominated war genre about the soldiers who served in Iraq. By bringing their unique perspectives to films and receiving Academy Award recognition, they’ve proven how needed their vision is and the need for inclusivity in storytelling.
While we know Samantha Quan as an award-winning producer for Anora, we also know through an eagle-eyed fan that her film industry roots first started on screen in small roles like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. From starting onscreen to progressing in a producer role shows her deep understanding of the filmmaking process and her talent for bringing meaningful stories to the big screen.
The Best Picture winner Anora will be available on your Hulu subscription on March 17th. You can also watch Samantha Quan’s minor yet “upbeat” role in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days on your Paramount+ subscription.
