Who Is Joan Baez, the Singer Monica Barbaro Plays in ‘A Complete Unknown’?
Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
Monica Barbaro is a first-time Academy Award nominee thanks to her portrayal of a Mexican-American icon in folk music. She is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. And most recently she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 SAG Awards.
Barbaro, who is of Mexican and Nicaraguan descent alongside Italian and German heritage, hails from San Francisco, Calif. After starring in TV series like Chicago Justice, UnReal, and The Good Cop, she had her first breakout role in film as Natasha “Phoenix” Trace in Top Gun: Maverick.
In 2024, Barbaro starred as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. Timothée Chalamet stars in the film as Bob Dylan during the sixties when the singer’s career started to take off. Around that period, Dylan collaborated with and briefly dated Baez, who was breaking through as a voice of social justice in the folk and Americana music scene.
Now at 84-years-old, Baez’s numerous achievements include the Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International, the Kennedy Centers Honors, and being an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her father Albert Baez was a physicist from Puebla, Mexico and her late sister Mimi Fariña also made a mark in folk music.
Though Baez primarily sings in English, she has honored her Mexican roots by also writing and recording songs in Spanish throughout her career. As Baez, Barbaro performed her songs “Silver Dagger,” “There But For Fortune,” and Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” with Chalamet for the movie.
A Complete Unknown received eight Oscar nominations overall. Barbaro is one of two nominees for Best Supporting Actress with Latin American heritage, which also includes Zoe Saldaña for her role as Rita Mora Castro in Emilia Pérez. They face competition from Ariana Grande in Wicked, Felicity Jones in The Brutalist, and Isabella Rossellini in Conclave.
Chalamet’s portrayal of Dylan earned him a nomination for Best Actor and Edward Norton is up for Best Supporting Actor for playing Pete Seeger in the same film. The 2025 Oscars will air live Sunday, March 2 on ABC.
