Monica Barbaro, the 35-year-old American actor best known for her breakout role in TOP GUN: MAVERICK and her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Joan Baez in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, is PORTER’s latest cover star.
As she prepares to take center stage at London’s National Theatre in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, the actor talks to PORTER about staying grounded, maintaining a sense of wonder through storytelling and her determination to perfect a British accent.
Monica Barbaro on getting her role in A Complete Unknown, starring alongside Timothée Chalamet: “Oh yeah. I was at home in LA and I just collapsed to the floor. I always do [when I get big news]. I have to get on the ground. I hid under the table and called my agent.”
On her Oscar nomination for her role as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown: “It’s a huge honor but it doesn’t actually give my work more meaning, and I know that to be very true. In some ways, it’s a validation, and it’s shoring up the infrastructure of a career, of course. And it [can] be really exciting. But to expect it, I think, is to look at your art in the wrong way.”
On Callum Turner after starring opposite him in One Night Only: “He’s like a labrador – kind, energetic, fun, collaborative.”
On being labelled by the press: “I’ve been called a breakthrough but it took years to get here. I remember talking to Mikey Madison about it. She was like, ‘I’ve been working for a really long time but everyone’s like, “Oh, hey, you’re brand new!”Umm, no, actually, I’m tired but, year, sure: I just got here. I’m fresh as a daisy!”.
On her love of acting at a young age: “It felt like I breathed oxygen for the first time. Some kids did it and didn’t care. For me, it was completely defining.”
On keeping her dreams of acting secret for years: “Saying you want to act can feel like saying you want attention. As if it means you’re craving celebrity, but I don’t believe it’s the same thing. I think I was also very intimidated by it. Dance let me perform without exposing parts of myself in the way acting requires.”
On getting her role in Top Gun: Maverick: “There was an immense amount of pressure. A lot of people felt you should never sequel Top Gun.”
On representing female fighter pilots in Top Gun: Maverick: “The women I met were extraordinary. I wanted to honor their strength and integrity.”
On being interviewed: “I used to be so nervous before interviews. Now I don’t know if I’m being complacent, or if I’ve just been through so many intense experiences, but everything feels…OK.”
On her next role in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre: “I haven’t done a play before, and I’ll be doing a British accent, in Britian, as an American. So…I’m sort of asking for it. The accent has to be absolutely flawless so that it doesn’t get in the way of the more important thing, which is telling the story. That’s how I felt about music [in A Complete Unknown] and how I felt about pretending to be a pilot. I think it’s grounding in way because I can obsess over it, which I like to do.”
On the personally confronting role of Madame de Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses: “I’m a person who’s been romantically quite protective so I think it’s a very important character for me to look at and live with.”
On Jonathan Anderson’s first haute couture show: “He knocked it out of the park. There were so many other designers there, which is a testament to his work, but also to his relationships and how he is as a person.”
On fame and privacy: “People know me professionally but I can go out and not really be hassled, which I’m very grateful for. Although, if I’m with a friend who’s more recognizable, it’s less so…. I’ve had a lot of instances where someone’s like, ‘Have we met?.”
On what’s next: “I want to stay hungry, but not in a way where I’m always chasing something I can’t quite grasp, telling myself my life will be better once I have ‘that thing’.”
On giving herself one piece of advice: “You can’t forget to live your own life in the midst of it all.”
[Photo Credit: Chantal Anderson/Porter Magazine]
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