Monica Barbaro

Monica Maria Barbaro (/ˈbɑːrbəroʊ/;^[1] born June 17, 1990) is an American actress. She began training in ballet at an early age, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from New York University. She began acting soon after college, taking on small roles in film and television in the 2010s, before her first major role in the second season of Unreal (2016), followed by further television roles in Chicago P.D. (2016–2017), Chicago Justice (2017), The Good Cop (2018), and Splitting Up Together (2018–2019). Her feature film debut was in the independent film The Cathedral (2021).

Monica Barbaro
Barbaro at the premiere for A Complete Unknown in London in 2025
Born	Monica Maria Barbaro (1990-06-17) June 17, 1990 (age 34) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education	New York University (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present

Barbaro's breakthrough came with a supporting role in the action film Top Gun: Maverick (2022), which she followed with starring roles in the Netflix action comedy series FUBAR (2023–present) and as Joan Baez in the biopic A Complete Unknown (2024). For the latter, she was nominated for the SAG Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Early life

Barbaro was born on June 17, 1990,^[2][3][4] to Heidi (née Wagner) and Nicholas Barbaro. She has a sister Eva and a brother, Michael.^[5][2][3] Barbaro was born in San Francisco and grew up in Mill Valley, California, where she graduated from Tamalpais High School in 2007.^[3][6] Her parents divorced when she was a child.^[6] Barbaro's father is Italian American and her mother is of Mexican, German and Nicaraguan descent.^[7] Barbaro started dancing at an early age and went on to study ballet. While taking electives in acting, she completed a degree in dance at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in New York City.^[8] After graduating in 2010, she decided to pursue acting and returned to San Francisco. There, she booked a commercial, a short film, connected with an agent,^[9] and attended the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school.^[6]

Career

Barbaro gained attention in 2013 for her lead role in It's Not About the Nail, a viral comedy short about communication in a marriage.^[10][11] Her first major television role was portraying the character of Yael on the second season of the Lifetime television series UnREAL.^[12] Following UnREAL, Barbaro joined the cast of NBC legal drama Chicago Justice, an entry in Dick Wolf's Chicago franchise,^[13] in which she portrayed Anna Valdez.^[14] In 2018, Barbaro also played Cora Vasquez on Netflix's The Good Cop, alongside Josh Groban and Tony Danza. Between 2018 and 2019, Barbaro had a recurring part in the ABC sitcom Splitting Up Together.^[15] In the 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, Barbaro portrayed Lieutenant Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, a naval aviator.^[16]

The following year, Barbaro starred in the romantic comedy At Midnight (2023). The film received mixed reviews for its story but Barbaro earned acclaim for her performance. San Francisco Chronicle declared "Barbaro...proves with seemingly effortless charm that she can carry a rom-com".^[17] Barbaro, a professional dancer, was able to lend her talents in a scene that involved the two leads dancing a combination of salsa and the tango.^[18]

In 2024, she played activist and folk singer Joan Baez in the James Mangold-directed Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet.^[19] Barbaro took singing and guitar lessons to prepare for this role.^[20] For her performance, she received multiple accolades, including nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.^[21][22]

Personal life

As of February 2025, Barbaro is dating actor Andrew Garfield.^[23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2013	Bullish	Eva
2021	The Cathedral	Lydia Damrosch
2022	Top Gun: Maverick	Natasha "Phoenix" Trace
	I'm Charlie Walker	Peggy
2023	At Midnight	Sophie Wilder
2024	A Complete Unknown	Joan Baez	Also performed 7 songs for its soundtrack
2026	Crime 101	TBA	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015	Stitchers	Brenda 'Bentley' Miller	Episode: "The Root of All Evil"
2016	Hawaii Five-0	Ella Koha	Episode: "Ke Koa Lokomaika'i"
	Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life	Attractive Girl	Episode "How to Survive Working with Friends"
	Unreal	Yael	Main role (season 2), 10 episodes
	Notorious	Chloe Edwards	Episode: "Tell Me a Secret"
2016–2017	Chicago P.D.	Assistant State's Attorney Anna Valdez	4 episodes
2017	Chicago Justice		Main role
	Lethal Weapon	Nora Cooper	Episode: "Flight Risk"
2018	The Good Cop	Cora Vasquez	Main role
2018–2019	Splitting Up Together	Lisa Apple	Recurring role
2019	Stumptown	Liz Melero	4 episodes
2023	FUBAR	Emma Brunner	Main role

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2023	Forspoken	Auden Keen	Voice role	[24]

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2024	St. Louis Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	A Complete Unknown	Nominated	[25]
	Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress		5th place	[26]
	The Astra Awards	Breakthrough Award		Won	[27]
2025	Vancouver Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[28]
	AARP Movies for Grownups Awards	Best Ensemble		Nominated	[29]
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role		Nominated	[30]
		Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated	[30]
	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[21]