Monica Barbaro takes performing her own stunts very seriously. In Top Gun: Maverick, the actress performed all of her demanding stunts, including the complex aerial scenes. And to prepare for the role, she even underwent a rigorous training program that included underwater exercises. 

She had the same level of commitment while portraying Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, and again in One Night Only. This time, however, her challenge was to sing and play musical instruments live on camera, which was not as easy as it sounds.

Looking back on the experience, Barbaro opened up about performing live while overcoming her fears.

Monica Barbaro recently appeared on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, where Horowitz asked her about taking on back-to-back roles that required her to sing. While she showed impressive performances in both, the achievement is even more remarkable considering she had no previous professional vocal training. Although Horowitz suggested it was fate, Barbaro opened up about just how difficult it was to sing in front of the camera.

“I cried in my trailer before I had to sing Only You,” she said. “I was so so so terrified.” 

During the interview, Barbaro further revealed that One Night Only shared the same assistant director as A Complete Unknown, and the person helped her feel more comfortable to show her best performance. Even so, the role of Allie required her to play the piano and even sing a song in front of a live crowd. While the actress admitted to being nervous, she was exceptional and even earned praise from her co-star, Callum Turner.

“She’s so committed to that part; and she’s got a beautiful voice,” Turner said on Seen on the Screen. 

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Her brilliant performance did not come without effort. Before starring in A Complete Unknown, the actress took vocal lessons to prepare for the role.

Monica Barbaro played folk singer Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. However, she had no professional training in singing or playing the guitar before taking on the role. So, to prepare for the role, she spent more than a year taking vocal and guitar lessons, dedicating countless hours to mastering both skills.

"We started with her iconic qualities, that tight vibrato, the high key, that angelic soaring voice, those very identifiable features," she told USA Today. "It was hard for me since I didn’t have a relationship with my own singing voice at all. So really, I just aimed at trying to sound like her, even it is impossible to sound like Joan Baez."

During her training, she also learned Joan Baez's intricate fingerpicking style. She described the experience as "learning how to walk in your 30s.” And that hard work has clearly paid off, with Barbaro showing yet another brilliant performance as Allie in One Night Only.

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What do you think about Monica Barbaro's vocal skills? Let us know in the comments.