‘A Complete Unknown’ actress Monica Barbaro reveals Joan Baez was “not fussed” about her portrayal in the film

nme.com:

A Complete Unknown actress Monica Barbaro has revealed that Joan Baez was “not fussed” about her portrayal in the film.The film, a Bob Dylan biopic that stars Timothee Chalamet in the main role, was released in US theatres on Christmas Day, with a UK release due January 17, 2025.A Complete Unknown covers the early years of Dylan’s career, during which he meets a young Joan Baez, portrayed in the film by Barbaro.

In an interview with The Guardian, Barbaro spoke about her experience playing the role – especially when she got to speak to Baez on the phone the night before she was due on set to film a performance of ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right’ as Baez.“[It was] the first song I sang and played in front of an audience and the hardest song to play, guitar-wise,” Barbaro revealed.“I struggled with this feeling of just so much gratitude for everything she’s done and for being willing to speak to me and how much I admire her – I tried to let that get out of the way and just have a conversation, but that’s hard.”Barbaro continued, sharing the research she did in preparation for the role: “Having studied her voice so closely – her speaking voice, every interview in the 60s – and then hearing Joan’s voice now in her 80s, in real time, speaking to me, was an incredibly emotional experience: really cool and kind of mind-blowing.”She added that Baez “was really not fussed” about her portrayal in the film. “I think I was more concerned on her behalf than she was for herself.

I was sort of saying: you deserve your own biopic! So many biopics with different chapters of your life! And she said: ‘I’m just sitting in my back yard watching the birds.’ You know: I lived it, I did it.”As for Dylan, he had a condition prior to approving.