"I think there are actually more similarities than you would think"- When Monica Barbaro opened up about her switch to acting
Over the past few years, Monica Barbaro has done almost too much, from flying an F-18 fighter jet in Top Gun: Maverick to fighting alongside the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger in FUBAR to learning music to star as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. The 34-year-old is seemingly at a very good point in her career and it seems she will remain here for quite a while to come.
What makes Monica Barbaro particularly exciting is the fact that she comes from a completely different background. She originally trained in ballet fro, an early age and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from New York University. However, she did a career pivot after college and slowly rose to prominence from television roles to movie roles to huge movie roles.
Though it seems like quite a jump from a ballet career to being an action movie star, Monica Barbaro explained that it was not that different after all. She explained this in a 2023 interview with Variety:
"I think there are actually more similarities than you would think. In ballet, there’s such an attention to detail in literally every limb of your body and how it moves exactly. I think learning stunts and choreography and a character’s physicality requires that same attention to detail."
Speaking about this, she continued:
"It’s also this thing of, like, a duck or a swan on water. You’re paddling underneath, but you look very graceful on top. In spite of the athletic feat, you’re supposed to look very poised and relaxed. But in “Top Gun,” we actually had to make it not look easy. So I learned that you train to the point of comfortability, but you still want to show the audience that a lot of effort is being expended."
In this same interview, she also expanded on comparing herself with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, too, switched from bodybuilding to acting, and to great effect.
"You have to be very observant of the world around you"- Monica Barbaro on comparisons with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Despite where he started Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of Hollywood's most iconic names and few would be remembered longer than him in the history books.
Monica Barbaro, though still relatively new to the field, has drawn comparisons to the veteran actor, partly because they worked together in FUBAR and partly because she, too, started out in a different field and later moved to acting.
When asked to address these comparisons, Monica Barbaro told Variety:
"I think that’s valid. I think he was the greatest in the world at what he did, and I can’t say that about my own ballet background, but, I think to get to a certain level of accomplishment in anything like there is just a certain kind of attention to detail. You have to be very observant of the world around you and the standards of a particular space that you’re trying to excel in."
She further praised Schwarzenegger, saying:
"I think whatever he was destined to do after his success level in bodybuilding, he was going to succeed. But he also just has this very special, hilarious, charismatic vocal quality and energy that I think just works very well for him, and slid right into this industry in a nice way."
Irrespective of where their origins were, both Schwarzenegger and Barabaro are now big parts of Hollywood, and it won't change anytime soon.
Monica Barbaro is soon set to appear in Crime 101, which is currently filming.
