Monica Barbaro Biography

Monica Barbaro was born in San Francisco, California to Heidi and Nicholas Barbaro. Monica started in the arts at a very young age, as a dancer throughout her childhood.

Monica went on to study ballet at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in New York City. While earning her degree in dance she took electives in acting. After graduating in 2010, she returned to San Francisco to pursue acting. She booked an agent and attended the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school.

Monica first appeared in a number of shorts, including Table for One, Tinker and It's Not About the Nail. She made her feature-film debut in Bullish (2013), playing Eva, the female lead.

She booked her first major television role in 2016 on the second season of the Lifetime series UnREAL, in the role of Yael. The next year she joined the cast of Chicago Justice, playing Anna Valdez.

In 2022, Monica's star took a big step up as she appeared in the Academy Award-nominated film Top Gun: Maverick (2022) alongside Tom Cruise, Miles Teller and Glen Powell. She played the role of Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace.

In 2023 she starred as Emma Brunner, the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character Luke Brunner on the Netflix series FUBAR. She is set to reprise her role in the series' second season, which is set to air in 2025.

In 2024, Monica fully established herself in the role of activist and folk singer Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet. To prepare for the role, Monica took singing and guitar lessons. She was originally set to begin training when the SAG strike hit, and she wasn’t allowed by SAG rules to work with her coach. She ended up doing a good amount of training alone. She described singing as a greater emotional challenge, while guitar was the greater technical challenge.

Her performance was praised by critics, and she received multiple accolades including Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy Awards.

Filmography:

A Complete Unknown (2024)
At Midnight (2023)
I'm Charlie Walker (2022)
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
The Cathedral (2021)
The Head Thieves (2018)
Bullish (2013)