2025 Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro texted Joan Baez

“If I could dance in a drum circle with Joan, I would die right there.”
Photo: �Searchlight images/courtesy Everett Collection

Finally one of Tom Cruise’s star students from Top Gun: Maverick has made it to the Academy Awards. Monica Barbaro, whose portrayal of Joan Baez in A complete unknown Elevated the biopic as a compelling romantic and industrial foil for Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan is among the Best Actress nominees at this year’s ceremony. (We’re thinking about her line delivery of “You’re kind of an asshole, bob” for a long time.) Barbaro, a first-time nominee for playing the middle-finger-flipping matriarch of people, joins a list that includes Evil‘s Ariana Grande-Butera, The Brutalist‘s Felicity Jones, Conclave‘s Isabella Rossellini and Emilia Perez‘s Zoe Saldaña. For her, it’s a seismic event on the level of transcending the Newport Folk Festival. “It’s beyond comprehension at this point in my career,” Barbaro said shortly after becoming an official nominee. “Every moment of this film has been a more completely life-changing experience on top of the next.”

I’m so glad you were the oil that rose above the water for this nomination. You were such a wonderful Joan.
My mind is blown. It seriously means the world to me. Thanks.

Tell me all about your day. Did you try to stay distracted?
Let me tell you, I’m in London shooting something right now and I was mid-cost fit when I got the news. I tried not to pay attention to what time the nominations came out. I was like, I don’t want to exaggerate this. There are so many incredible female performances this year. I would be happy for everyone. I had a feeling the movie, Timmy and Edward Norton, was going to get some love, so I tried not to think of myself in it. So I was like, Yeah, why don’t we make a proper one right now? But I was still refreshing and invigorating. And when my phone started to turn on, I was on the floor. I had made peace with it potentially not happening and that allows even more room to be more excited. How do I treat this? I have no idea. I can’t feel my toes.

You are in such a fascinatingly diverse category. I must have seen a dozen different predictions for who the final five nominees would be.
I grew up on In the middle of the stage. I was a ballet dancer when that movie came out, and Zoe Saldaña is the northern star of feminine strength. I really don’t know how you can narrow this sort of thing down to five people. I think the most exciting thing about this particular year is that it’s not just the competitive supporting actress category because it’s “all women get.” The leading actress category has also been highly competitive. This year is stacked with excellent female performances. It gives me so much hope for women in film. Having my name in the final five is something I can’t even wrap my head around yet.

Can you hope this will spur your official first meeting with Joan?
I hope so. Physically we have never been together. We talked on the phone while I was in production and we recently texted.

Did she sext her congratulations yet?
No, because I have no idea if she tracks anything about the Oscars. We text because I’m trying to get to it this Benefit concert she has next month in San Francisco. It is a retrospective of her amazing career. I’m filming in London for the next few weeks, so I’m spitting ideas at her, like How do I get a return ticket, pop in at night and then run back to London to continue working? Where is my sky miles? She is so cool and grounded about all of this.

What would be your perfect day with her?
We would have a lovely time drumming and dancing in her garden. I think that would be my pinnacle, pie-in-the-sky moment to share with Joan. What do we do for the rest of the day? I don’t know and I don’t care. If I could dance in a drum circle with Joan, I would die right there.

Are there any nuances of her personality that you’ve picked up since filming ended?
Even in her anxiety, Joan managed to calm others so much with her voice, music and beliefs. I was a kid who loved being barefoot and then the world came in and was like, You can’t do it all the time. And then I got this golden nugget of a chance to be barefoot the whole time in the production because Joan is constantly talking about how she didn’t want to wear shoes. I have continued to force people to let me be barefoot in their homes in every situation.

Oscars will not do Best Original Song Performance of the Year But in the past yearsthere has been a precedent for one-off music moments for certain films. Would you have any interest in performing a song of Joan’s if given the chance?
Yes, of course. I am a person who gets absolutely scared and leans into challenges presented to me. Thanks for that; I think it will haunt my dreams tonight. That would be another absolutely life changing idea. One of my favorite experiences making this movie was when I realized I could play “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” to Tempo. When I had it as a moment of a lifetime, I had full blown tears. Being able to learn to play music, much less for this – collaborating and performing with Timmy – and performing it live? I’m so lucky to have delved into a musician’s life, even just for a moment. I respect performing musicians more than I ever have before, which was already a lot. So I don’t take that performance suggestion lightly. I’d be glad to know it’s happening if it did.

Do you have any theories on what Timmy will perform on Saturday Night Live?
I have none! It’s not his first rodeo at snl But this will be a special one, for sure.

I hope it will be a bob song followed by one Timmy Tim Original.
A small combination dish of all of the above. I wish I could be there, and indeed I tried to find out how I could, but I will see with the rest of London the next morning.