The Tasmanian devil who screamed, thrashed and hellcatted her way through "Anora" as Ani, a sex worker caught up in a terrifying but also funny adventure of Russian billionaires and Armenian thugs, did not show up to talk to TheWrap at a recent interview.

In many ways Anora feels like a fairy tale. Except that the film's title character - Ani to her friends - is a stripper and occasional sex worker. And her Prince Charming is the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch.

When Sean Baker and Mikey Madison arrive at the Deadline shoot for this article, it's a beautiful, clear blue-sky day in Los Angeles. Just for a moment, it's almost as though the fires and smoke of the past few weeks are an imagined horror.