San Francisco-born and Mill Valley-raised, actor Monica Barbaro not only plays Joan Baez in the new movie A Complete Unknown, she sings the vocals and plays the guitar herself. That made for a very anxiety-inducing phone conversation with Joan Baez.
It’s no secret that folk legend Joan Baez still lives in the Bay Area, as she occasionally shows up unannounced at San Francisco events. Baez actually lives in the San Mateo County town of Woodside. And her work is probably about to enjoy a new revival among younger fans, because Joan Baez is a major character in the new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown with Timothée Chalamet, which came out this week.
The Baez role is played by San Francisco-born Monica Barbaro, who grew up in Mill Valley and attended Tamalpais High School. A Complete Unknown is directed by James Mangold, who also directed the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. And Mangold insists that his actors not lip-synch, but actually learn the instruments and perfectly mimic the voices of the real-life performers who they play.
So Monica Barbaro had to sing like Joan Baez, and perfect her style of guitar-playing. Did she nail it? Listen to her take on “House Of The Rising Sun” below and judge for yourself.
“I’d taught myself some songs on the ukelele, but I really didn’t sing or play prior to this,” Barbaro told the Chronicle in an interview. “It was just an overhaul of training. … Joan has an impossibly perfect voice!”
This all led to what was surely a difficult phone conversation, where Barbaro called Joan Baez to see what she thought of all this.
“Calling Joan was the one last thing I needed to do and I didn’t know why,” Barbaro said to the Chronicle. “Something about hearing her voice and speaking with her. In some way, I sort of realized that she’s not hellbent on trying to prove something with this movie. She doesn’t feel like it’s hers, and she doesn’t live or die by what we say about her in this film.”
A Complete Unknown was released at Bay Area theaters Wednesday, as you surely know if you saw any television commercials on Christmas Day. Showtimes are here.
We don't yet know how Baez feels about the film, or Barbaro's portrayal.
Image: Searchlight Pictures
