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when it opens in US theaters this week.
What’s especially remarkable about the 34-year-old’s performance is that it’s actually her, not Baez, who is singing and playing in the film. The thing that’s surprising is that when she was chosen for the role, she had not done “more than a ditty” on camera before and was not capable of playing the guitar.
When she landed the role, she was both extremely happy and extremely nervous, and just 10 minutes after finding out, she went to get her sister’s guitar restrung and started making videos on YouTube, knowing she had a big challenge ahead.
After five months, Barbaro was ready for her big opportunity. One of her first encounters with Chalamet was at a musical rehearsal, where she was truly grateful. “It was magical… I often felt overwhelmed by the sheer magic of making music and singing, and then getting to do it in perfect harmony with him… I had listened to his recordings beforehand and knew he had an amazing talent, but to experience that live with him was even more incredible.”
As part of her preparation, she spoke directly with Margaret Baez, the real-life Baez, on the phone. “She was brutally honest. In her own memoirs, she sheds light on her own life without sugarcoating her past… and she made it clear she wasn’t trying to dictate our direction,” she says.
She first began as a dancer before pursuing acting, having been active in television for over a decade. In 2021, she starred in the film The Cathedral. A year later, she took on the role of fighter pilot Natasha “Phoenix” Trace in Top Gun: Maverick. “We did learn how to fly planes, which is pretty incredible. My favorite thing about acting is that I never had to choose a career – I get to do whatever I want.”
In the movie Fubar, where she starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter, both characters were secret CIA operatives, unbeknownst to each other – and ironically, the filming of the two movies overlapped. “The thing was a little wild, as the characters couldn’t be more opposite. One is super into violence, while the other is strongly against it. The crew even cracked jokes about both characters on set.”
Up next is the heist film Crime 101, starring Chris Hemsworth and Barry Keoghan. “I love to pivot completely. I love to change it up where I can.”
A Complete Unknown is open in theaters on Friday
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