GRUMPY MAGAZINE - Monica Barbaro (Solo Edition) by Grumpy Magazine

ON THE COVER

ABOUT Grumpy Magazine is an international digital and print publication founded and curated by Jasmine Perrier. Selfpublished from France since 2016, we aim at covering the cultural landscape across the world and sharing a genuine vision of life to get you out of your grumpy mood. More than just a magazine, we are interested in aesthetically pleasing a modern take on traditional staples and thus offering a unique book capturing thoughtful stories and stimulating sceneries. This standalone feature is taken from Grumpy Magazine’s IN CONVERSATION series and exclusively available as a solo story featuring one talent and 20+ pages of interview and photos.

CONNECT Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

grumpymagazine.com Grumpy Magazine @grumpymagazine grumpymagazine Grumpy Magazine

COVER | Monica Barbaro wears Atelier Ndigo

OUR KIOSK Online Print

issuu.com/grumpymagazine grumpymagazine.com/shop

SPECIAL THANKS

BACK COVER | Monica Barbaro wears Kendra Duplantier tank | Kaftan Studio skirt | Christine Bukkehave earrings

Narrative PR | EB Media PR | Netflix | The Visionaries Forward Artists | db Atelier dtla courtesy of Laura Favier Monica Barbaro was photographed in Los Angeles in February 2023.

onica Barbaro is dancing her way to stardom

Monica Barbaro has come a long way since her days as a dancer. Poised to reach new heights in Hollywood, she is joined by Fortune Feimster to break down her most defining moments.

SET Kaftan Studio

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM

MONICA BARBARO In conversation with Fortune Feimster

‘‘E

xcuse me, Dior is at the door,” Monica Barbaro playfully says to her friend Fortune Feimster when their call is interrupted by a delivery.

She adds, “You know how fancy I’ve become, I’m going to an event tonight.” That’s what happens when you star in an Oscar-nominated major global franchise whose sequel broke box office records. Once a classically trained ballet dancer, the fiercely talented actress from Northern California is at an interesting point in her career where she has shared movie credits with the likes of Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yet, she commands attention with grit and grace, proving herself to be a powerhouse to be reckoned with. After making a striking impression as Top Gun’s first female fighter pilot, she was offered a leading role in the Netflix series Fubar as a seasoned CIA agent and Schwarzenegger’s on-screen daughter. The rising star fielded questions from Fortune Feimster, with whom she shares some fun scenes in the spyadventure dramedy, to shed light on how she forged her own path to success. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Kayla Varley VIDEOGRAPHY BY Savanna Morales STYLING BY Kait Lusk MAKEUP BY Sarah Uslan at The Visionaries HAIR BY Eddie Cook at Forward Artists PRODUCTION BY Jasmine Perrier at Studio J•T•P LOCATION db Atelier dtla

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM

‘‘

I was so excited that they were willing to bet on me [for Fubar] without the world knowing Top Gun yet. That they were like, “This is someone that we believe in based on what we’ve seen.”

FORTUNE FEIMSTER: What’s up, buddy?

’’

MONICA BARBARO: Hi! Thank you for doing this. I know you’re so busy.

was like, ‘‘Netflix is super pumped. They’ve been trying to get her in a show. She’s popular and picky, and she wants to be in our show.’’

FF: Anytime, anything for you. Thank you for having me be a part of it.

FF: Amazing. We’ll dig into the nuts and bolts of that show a little bit later.

MB: I asked you to do this because you are the coolest person on the show I just did, but you also used to interview people.

MB: I’d watched your special too and you’re phenomenal. FF: You watched my first one, Sweet & Salty [available on Netflix], when it came out during the pandemic. When I met you that first day in Toronto, I was like, ‘‘Oh, this is going to be the person that’s going to help me be the social one of the cast.’’ We hung out first, then everyone got so crazy busy. But we started hanging out a lot more again in the last two months.

FF: Seven years as a journalist. I never did it on Zoom because the technology did not exist, but I did a lot of the interviews on the phone and then on the red carpet. MB: Wow, wild. FF: Alright you guys, I am so excited to be interviewing my dear friend and my costar, Monica Barbaro. I had the pleasure of working with Monica for five months in Toronto. We filmed a new action comedy series that is coming to Netflix on May 25th, which is called Fubar. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg with my friend Monica here. I was so happy when I found out that we were going to be working together.

MB: It was one of those things where I was like, ‘‘We should have a dinner where we all get together because Arnold [Schwarzenegger] will happily be a part of that.’’ But he’s also in his own world and he’s a megastar. FF: He’s a busy guy. But it was nice to get to know each other more as friends because you’re filming these 12 to 15-hour days with each other. These are the people that you’re spending a lot of time with and hopefully

MB: I was super stoked because Nick [Santora] called me and the person he was most excited to tell me about was you. He

TANK Kendra Duplantier BUST Orseund Iris SKIRT Kaftan Studio EARRINGS Christine Bukkehave

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM

TOP & BOTTOM Sincerely Ria JEWELRY Amorcito

I wanted to do that so badly. I got some of that in dance, but then when I graduated from college, I took as many acting classes as I could while I was in the dance school.

more than one season — we’ll find out. But I started to do a deep dive into who you were because you want to know who you’re working with. And at the time, you were one of the stars of the biggest movie in the world, Top Gun: Maverick.

FF: Dancing is very intense, especially ballet. That had to be super hard on your body.

MB: I think you were the first person in the cast to see it.

MB: It definitely teaches you to disconnect from your pain.

FF: My wife and I watched it in the movie theater. Even though I had just met you, I was so proud of you because here you were, making this big mark, not only in cinema but also in pop culture, as a female fighter pilot, Phoenix. When you were auditioning for that movie, did you feel that this could be a game changer?

FF: But that actually makes you perfect for these action shows. MB: I remember my first series was unreal. We were all wearing high heels and I remember people being like — and they were right, ‘‘They can’t possibly have us stand out here in the freezing cold in Canada for five hours in heels.’’ And I was like, ‘‘Why not?’’ I think at the time I was in it to win it.

MB: I knew it was something huge, in part because I was told we were going to be flying in these jets. They were really trying to make their own new great film. Then it was clear that they were paying a lot of attention to the very specific points of view of each character while we were filming these scenes. I think we all had the sense it could be big but you don’t want to rely on that.

FF: You were talking about the stigma around acting where you grew up. I know dance is different but that’s like an elevated version of the arts. MB: My parents encouraged me to stay in the arts but ballet seemed a little more respectable. Then, when I was really working as an actor, I think at the end of the day it was like, ‘‘Whatever makes you happy.’’

FF: Absolutely. You did a lot of television like Chicago P.D., Chicago Justice, Stumptown... you were always working. And then this giant movie comes out and I think it made people curious about you. I felt that when I watched the movie as I was starting to film with you. You grew up in Northern California, right?

FF: So, you graduated college in dance. Did you stay in New York [to try acting]? MB: I stayed in New York for a minute. I got out of college in three years and spent the rest of that summer submitting for auditions for shows. I realized I had a network in dance but none in acting, so I moved back home. And there was also a bed bug epidemic in New York, so it felt like a new sort of rock bottom. At the time, I was also reading a book that was literally ‘‘How to Be a Working Actor.’’

MB: Yes. I was a dancer and did ballet for a long time. I didn’t start acting until after I graduated from college with a dance degree. FF: You went to the Tisch School of the Arts, which is so funny because that’s the place where so many actors dream of going. And you were there, but dancing. MB: I recently visited the dance school again. It was such a formative experience but I remember the whole time wanting to be an actor. I’d be like, ‘‘I’m done with this. I want to be an actor.’’ And then we would do The Nutcracker or have a series of shows and I’d be like, ‘‘No, I really like this.’’ As much as film is respected in Northern California, it was almost shallow to want to be an actor, or maybe that’s the judgment I put on it. But

FF: Step one: move out of New York. MB: One of the things suggested it’s a good idea to build or to test this thing out in a city that’s not New York or LA, and I was 15 minutes outside of San Francisco. So I was like, ‘‘I’ll move home and self-submit for commercials using my dance resume, and see if that works.’’ And it kind of did.

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM

FF: What made it like it was time for LA?

process and also a long time ago because it was supposed to come out in 2020 and then kept pushing.

MB: A few things. I had done a few big commercials and I had hit the ceiling of what was available in San Francisco. Then I did this short film with a director, Jason Headley, who worked on a commercial with me. Now he writes Pixar movies. He had written this very funny little short and was like, ‘‘Do you want to shoot this with me? I’m just going to throw it up on the internet.’’ We did it and a lot of people really liked it. Then reps reached out to me and I moved down here. And one of those managers was like, ‘‘Actually, never mind.’’ But it was a good lesson — I wanted to be here and it was not just because someone else wanted me here.

FF: Well, Tom [Cruise] was smart. To see that in the theater is a whole other experience. MB: I think you went at the right time too. I wish that I had run to a theater early on just to see people experience that. Because I saw it for the premiere but that’s always a fun party of just screaming and rooting for each other. But the audiences, who didn’t necessarily know any of us, were in there doing a lot of cheering. I think that takes a lot for a movie to do. FF: It means it’s hooked you. I know I asked a little bit about the audition process, but how was approaching a big audition like that? Was it nerve-wracking? Or were you like, ‘‘I’m going to do the best I can and we’ll see what happens.’’

FF: So you moved down to LA. MB: There was someone who wasn’t really doing anything for two years. I also went through UCB [Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre] and I had a couple of improv teams.

MB: I guess both. At first, I was like, ‘‘I’ll never book this.’’ And I wasn’t asked into the room — because before everything was selftaped, it was either you tape because you’re not in town or you tape because they’re willing to let you give it a shot.

FF: I didn’t know you did improv. Would you get nervous up there? MB: So nervous! I think the Groundlings might have been a better route because they are more character-based, whereas UCB was almost more writing-based.

FF: But they don’t want to waste their time [laughs]. I’ve been there. Just getting an audition like that is difficult.

FF: The Groundlings’ goal is to have you do the silliest things possible. You learn not to have any judgment on what you’re doing.

MB: Joseph Kosinski said he saw 50 to 100 women for Phoenix, which is crazy. But I did a tape and then they invited me in. I had that wholesome audition experience where you’re like, ‘‘I’m just going to do my best.’’ When I got called back, it was a little bit more like, ‘‘Wow, this is a possibility.’’ Then the director told me we’d be flying and asked if I could swim. Because we had to do a whole survival course with drowning to make sure that we knew how to survive in case we ejected over water. All of that information was cool and crazy to me.

MB: You can’t have any embarrassment. FF: Right. So from there, did you keep up acting classes or do more auditioning and parts on TV shows? MB: It was more class than auditioning for a couple of years. Then I did a few series in a couple of years and Top Gun happened. FF: But for us when we’re in it, it’s like, ‘‘When is this break going to happen?’’ On the outside, you’re like, ‘‘That was fast.’’

FF: That would have eliminated some people right there. It’s not enough to be a good actor. What was your reaction when you found out you got the part?

MB: And it wasn’t. My first series was seven years ago and I booked Top Gun almost five years ago now. We started in the late summer of 2018 and we wrapped in the early summer of 2019. So, it was a very long

MB: I was shaking, excited, and told my mom. I was pumped that [Phoenix] wasn’t a

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM

LOOK Kim Perets

love interest too. There’s nothing wrong with being that, but this was this opportunity to do a thing that the guys get to do with action.

pitches to all of the major networks, which was also a very fun thing to get to watch, and Lulu attended each one of them. There is one she didn’t walk into and it didn’t go as well. I actually have a video where Arnold is like [imitating Schwarzenegger], ‘‘Lulu wants a cookie.’’

FF: You were as tough, if not tougher than these guys. And you got to be a badass. That was cool to watch.

FF: ‘‘I want to do a TV show, of course you want it. So I’ll just go feed my donkey while you decide how much you want to pay for this.’’ [Laughs] So you guys get this off the ground, Netflix buys it, and your life was like a series of waiting for two or three years. You’re now having to go toe-to-toe with Arnold in a Netflix TV series, but you guys equally carry the weight of the show. Do you feel like the experience of doing Top Gun prepared you for that kind of responsibility?

MB: It was fun to do. I’m glad people liked it. FF: You filmed this movie for a long period of your life and you’re all geared up for it to come out. Then this lovely pandemic hits. MB: Although it was crazy to wait, I think the cast and I became closer every time that it pushed. We would have these long drawnout conversations about all of our hopes and dreams, and how tough the pandemic had been. Now that I think about it, it could have been the thing that gave room for me to do Fubar. The producers [Dana Goldberg and David Ellison] offered this to me because Skydance made Top Gun as well.

MB: On Top Gun, I learned to put my fears aside, show up as my best professional self, and communicate with people I was very intimidated by. The fun thing about Arnold is that he doesn’t put on any airs and he is very real. So by the time I was working with him, I was glad I knew how to be myself in that space. I think that’s what he wants from everyone around him. The more comfortable we all got with him and we joked with him, the happier he became, and then the better everyone’s dynamic was.

FF: So you were given the opportunity and didn’t have to wait for the movie to come out to show people what a badass you were. MB: I was so excited that they were willing to bet on me [for Fubar] without the world knowing Top Gun yet. They’ve been a great partner in that. That was in the fall of 2020.

FF: [Laughs] I definitely witnessed you not being afraid to speak up. You were diligent about the work and the character being grounded and real.

FF: When they offered you the role as Emma in Fubar, what made you say ‘‘yes’’? MB: It was pretty cool that it was a fatherdaughter duo with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, I liked working with Skydance and getting to meet all of them in the Top Gun process. Then I talked to Nick Santora, our writer and creator, who is someone I could talk to for hours on end. He’s great, very real, and so passionate about the story. He understands the reality of the thing and the show we have to put on, but manages to be a real person amongst all of that. And he’s just so experienced and funny. Then I got to meet Arnold and his donkey via Zoom.

MB: It was also fun because I’d be like, ‘‘Do you guys need us to be on the same eyeline?’’ And Arnold would be like, ‘‘Better not to know.’’ But I’d be like, ‘‘Something is exploding and we are both looking in different directions!’’ [Laughs] FF: He was so funny. I came into a scene where my shirt got caught on the door and it ripped a giant hole in the middle of my stomach. So I stopped the scene going, ‘‘I probably should get wardrobe.’’ And he was like, ‘‘Who cares? Just film.’’ It was refreshing and a fun set.

FF: The donkey sealed the deal! MB: At the end of the day, everyone really cared about those same things. There was space to have those character

MB: Lulu sold the show because then we did meetings where very experienced people do

conversations with Adam Higgs who was on set with us. They put so much work into the characters and these arcs. And the tone was very clear in the script, so bringing to life what’s on the page, but also doing it in a way that’s true to each actor’s process, is also really interesting and a reason why we all got along so well.

the same place I’ve been in for a very long time and still drive my 2010 Nissan Sentra. I just know more.

FF: We realized we had gotten close around Arnold’s birthday. It was like a nice camaraderie. Then it was time to go home. You had been in this bubble of filming for five months — you had to miss the London premiere of Top Gun: Maverick and you weren’t able to go to Cannes. But what was exciting is that we wrapped as the awards season was starting. As your friend, it was cool to watch you go through that. How was that experience for you? Because suddenly you guys are at the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards, then the freaking Oscars.

MB: But at the same time, there’s very much a human at the base of whoever you’re meeting. I feel like now I’m like, ‘‘Stars, they’re just like us!’’

FF: You’re taking the best parts of it. LA is one of those places where you have dinner with somebody you can’t believe you are sitting at a table with. Then your life is normal.

FF: You also just starred in a movie, At Midnight, so you got into the romance world and you’re checking a lot of boxes already. What is the hope for what’s to come? MB: I’d be so stoked to do another season of our show. But I like a good hard pivot. I did a teeny-tiny budgeted indie after I did Top Gun that was very artfully done and beautiful, and got good recognition. It was a very fun and completely different experience. What about you? You’re on tour right now?

MB: I’m still processing it. I went to the Vanity Fair party and a couple of Oscar parties the year prior, and was such a fly on the wall because it was like, ‘‘Who are you and why are you here?’’

FF: I’m in the thick of this awesome tour, doing theaters everywhere. But like you, I really hope that we get to continue Fubar. I hope you and I get to do more together because we didn’t get to film much together until the last half.

FF: [Laughs] How Hollywood. MB: But it was nice to see it from that perspective and then get to go with a film that was well respected. We also had a group so we got to experience it together as friends, have a lot of fun with it, and learn a lot about how that goes. The Oscar campaign is like politics in a way — you’re shaking hands, taking photos, and looking great. It was also fun to see you nominated for your Critics Choice Award and I got to introduce you to David Ellison. I felt very fancy for the first time ever [laughs].

MB: I will say [Nick] was effusive about our two characters together. So, maybe! FF: Even though we’ve only been friends for this last year, I’m proud of you. MB: Oh, thanks. I’m also proud to know you because your special coming out during the pandemic felt like a friend in a dark space. You are a fun one to meet because your sense of humor is not at anyone else’s expense and without it being overly wholesome either. It’s the kind of comedy that everyone can appreciate and doesn’t leave anybody out, but not in a way that feels like it’s trying to score points for doing so. I’m proud of you too.

FF: Having had all of these significant things under your belt in the last three or four years, do you feel different? MB: I don’t feel different but other people feel differently about me. I still feel like a nerdy and desperate actor who really wants whatever job I am most excited about next. Sometimes, it feels like my life is so different after a week of a lot of events. And then after a couple of weeks, it settles back out and it’s like, ‘‘No, it’s still the same thing.’’ I’m in

FF: Thank you, I appreciate that. I was hoping this would end with a compliment for me. fubar is now streaming on netflix

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM

‘‘

I don’t feel different but other people feel differently about me. I still feel like a nerdy and desperate actor who really wants whatever job I am most excited about next. Sometimes, it feels like my life is so different after a week of a lot of events. And then after a couple of weeks, it settles back out and it’s like, “No, it’s still the same thing.”

’’

RING Randa Choueiri

GRUMPYMAGAZINE.COM