Monica Barbaro's Oscar nomination was one of the most pleasant surprises this awards season. The actress, who's built her career with films and shows like "Top Gun: Maverick" and "FUBAR," met an unprecedented level of acclaim with her most recent role. She plays Joan Baez in "A Complete Unknown," a film that follows Timothee Chalamet as folk icon Bob Dylan at the time when he made the controversial decision to use electric instruments.
In an interview with Variety, Barbaro discussed her Oscar nomination and how she prepared for the role, which included disconnecting from social media.
"I had to delete social media because there’d be a photo of Timmy and then this onslaught of people saying, 'He’s going to win an Oscar for this!' And I had to tune it all out because we hadn’t even shot the film yet," she said.
Barbaro shared that she wanted to do all of the work to "earn the seat" of the role, and be on equal footing with stars like Chalamet, Elle Fanning, and Edward Norton.
She revealed that following her Oscar nomination, she also deleted her social media, eliminating the app from her phone, this time because she had the opposite problem. "I was overwhelmed by the lovely, positive feedback," she explained.
"I’ll be back, but I need to respond to the people who have sent me lovely emails and texts first."
Barbaro's thoughts on the future of her career
Barbaro has described the award season as "surreal," filled with experiences like receiving praise from Glenn Close and being in the room with artists who are "in awe of other artists in the room."
She's experienced one marked change since her Oscar nomination. "For the first time in my career, I feel like I’m probably not going to get fired — at least right away," she said.