Monica Barbaro is prepared for her huge highlight. From flying excessive as a pilot in “High Gun: Maverick” to embodying the enduring Joan Baez, Monica Barbaro is making her mark in Hollywood. Along with her newest function in the James Mangold-directed Bob Dylan biopic “A Full Unknown,” Barbaro demonstrates her performing vary and untethered potential to channel the essence of one among music’s most revered activists.

Barbaro’s casting as Joan Baez was a protracted journey, starting together with her audition in March 2020 — simply because the COVID pandemic disrupted Hollywood. “My first audition was proper earlier than the world stopped,” she recollects in the course of the Selection Awards Circuit Podcast. “I obsessed over Joan Baez, however I didn’t let myself put together an excessive amount of — it wasn’t my job but, and I needed to defend myself emotionally.”

That modified in 2023 when James Mangold emailed her the topic line: “Joan is yours.”

“I froze, fell to the bottom, and cried,” she remembers. “It was life-changing. I nonetheless have a screenshot of that e-mail.”

Barbaro wasn’t a Baez superfan when she began, however that modified whereas prepping for the function. “Once I heard “The Water Is Broad,” it was like time froze. Her voice has this religious high quality — it’s otherworldly,” she says. Hear beneath!

Barbaro is 1 / 4 Mexican, a heritage she shares with Joan Baez, whose father was additionally Mexican. She says her expertise navigating a combined identification in Hollywood has been each difficult and illuminating. “Each job I’ve booked has include questions on my percentages — how Mexican or how white I’m,” she explains. “I’ve by no means felt absolutely sufficient of both aspect.”

Rising up in San Francisco, Barbaro was conscious about how individuals categorized her. “It’s a typical expertise for mixed-race individuals: being ‘not sufficient’ for both group. My grandma, who was Mexican, wouldn’t even communicate Spanish at dwelling as a result of she didn’t need individuals to guage us.”

That connection deepened her bond with Baez. “Studying Joan’s memoir, the place she talks about not belonging, felt so private. That duality of identification is one thing I wish to discover extra in my work.”

Barbaro’s breakout function as Lt. Natasha “Phoenix” Hint in “High Gun: Maverick” (2022), which was nominated for finest image, thrust her into the worldwide highlight. However past the motion and acclaim, Tom Cruise’s mentorship left probably the most resounding influence.

“He’s impossibly hardworking but in addition so beneficiant,” Barbaro says. “He mentored all of us and nonetheless makes himself accessible. I can textual content him questions, and he all the time responds. His consideration to security and precision in his stunts is inspiring.”

Cruise’s religion in Barbaro prolonged past “High Gun.” “He reached out to James Mangold and vouched for me,” she shares. “That type of assist means every thing.”

Past “A Full Unknown,” Barbaro is diving into new challenges. She’s at present filming “Crime 101,” against the law thriller starring Chris Pine and Mark Ruffalo, and is raring to discover roles incorporating her dance background.

“I’ve been itching to do a movie the place dance performs a central function,” she says. “Dance is such an enormous a part of who I’m, and I wish to discover a mission that integrates it earlier than I get too ‘geriatric,’” she jokes.

Barbaro additionally hopes to provide tales reflecting her personal identification and experiences of belonging. “I’m drawn to themes of otherness and navigating a number of identities. It’s such a common feeling, and I wish to give voice to that.”

With “A Full Unknown” hitting theaters, she hopes younger individuals can uncover the love of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, simply as she did when she landed the function.

“I hope audiences who watch this movie are impressed to dive into Joan Baez’s music and activism. She’s an icon, and it’s an honor to convey her story to life.”

Additionally on this episode, “Depraved” star Cynthia Erivo discusses filming the enduring musical, what to anticipate from “Depraved: For Good” and the upcoming launch of her debut album.

Selection’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who additionally produces, is your one-stop supply for vigorous conversations about the most effective in movie and tv. Every episode, “Awards Circuit” options interviews with prime movie and TV expertise and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and trade headlines, and far more. Subscribe by way of Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you obtain podcasts.