Star interview: This is how actress Monica Barbaro was doing with her role as Joan Baez in the movie "Like a Complete Unknown"

Just as a combat pilot in "Top Gun: Maverick" In addition to Tom Cruise, the 34-year-old US actress is now becoming a musician: From February 27, 2025, she will play the singer-songwriter icon Joan Baez next to Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in the film "Like a Complete Unknown". So outstanding that both are nominated for an Oscar! We were now allowed to speak the happy west coast beauty personally ...

Monica Barbaro:I didn't know much about her. Of course I knew a few songs, but I had no deep understanding of her before.

M.B.:Thank you for the compliment! It was definitely a lot of training. I was not a singer beforehand and didn't play guitar. So I practiced five months until the actor strike came in between. So I was able to practice more ... Joan Baez has these iconic qualities that everyone knows and this beautiful vibrato in the high pitches - I feel that it is almost the same. I filed for that and at the same time tried to expand my range of sound in order to get the high. And suddenly it works!

M.B.:The more I researched, the more I admired her. The expectations of myself were very high. In a way, that was somewhat overwhelming. So I had to let out some pressure so as nottoPerfectly present and take the personality to her.

M.B.:It definitely helped! Ballet is an extremely disciplined art form, so it was clear to me how much training is needed to do something seemingly easy. I knew it would take a while to look like it as if I had played guitar for more than 20 minutes.

M.B.:I haven't processed that yet. So crazy! But as much as it is startled by me, it is also very exciting to see my own name, for example on Spotify.

M.B.:About since I was 12 years old. As you know, I was a dancer - I would like to present a certain figure in ballet. Then I felt most connected to the work and fulfilled by work. So yes, in a way I've always known it, but only officially started it at the age of 21.

M.B.:I don't know it. I come from a family where all artists are, but nobody does it professionally. But I always find it strange when people say that they cannot dance. I think everyone can. It is only a question of whether you connect your own skills to what is considered art as art! There was probably excellent surrealistic painters when Michelangelo pulled his thing through, but no one wanted to see that at the time. Art is very dependent on the zeitgeist, but everyone has the ability to be creative.

M.B.:It was so wonderful to sing with Timmy. I trusted his presentation and his understanding of Bob and he trusted my interpretation of Joan. We didn't discuss much or theorize what we want to say in a specific scene. Of course, James Mangold, our brilliant director, also contributed to this. The chemistry between Bob and Joan was also very natural at the time - a very authentic relationship. We tried to show that.

M.B.:Yes, that's a great way to express it! Especially in the club scenes, where we did the solo appearances. We had the best background actors for this film and I can still see her in front of me. The eye contact with people who stood against me and gave me so much - dressed from head to toe, as if they came from the 60s! The rooms were filled with smoke. We had forgotten cell phones. No modern technology, apart from the cameras that were running around. That's it. Incredible!

M.B.:Oh, I love "Don't Think Twice". But the text that fascinates me the most and to which I keep returning is "Farewell Angelina", which Joan Baez sings solo later. I remember when I heard the song for the first time and thought: What? Did she really sing that? Simply brilliant. You can interpret these texts for a lifetime.