Monica Barbaro was just 14 years old when she first found out that she had booked a part in Top Gun: Mavericka pipe burst at her family home. “All hell was breaking loose,” Barbaro tells me over Zoom from Toronto, where she’s filming an upcoming Netflix spy series. “I was like, ‘Mom, I got the part and she’s not a love interest, she’s a pilot! We were both tearing up and she’s like, I need to call the plumber.”
Four years after receiving that call and almost three since filming wrapped in June 2019, the highly anticipated sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 classic is finally here, introducing a new group of elite Naval aviators. Captain. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is the franchise’s first female fighter pilot, Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace.
While Barbaro’s costars include major Hollywood players like Glen Powell, Miles Teller, and Jay Ellis, the lesser-known actor had a secret advantage going into hours of grueling flight and water survival training. Now 31 years old, the San Francisco native graduated from NYU’s BFA dance program in 2010 before moving back to California to pursue a career in acting. Little did she know, years of ballet provided the tools and “high pain tolerance” needed to remain conscious while performing aerial maneuvers in actual F-18 fighter jets.
Paramount Pictures
“There was a funny moment where a couple of the guys were saying they hated going upside down, and I was like, ‘I’ve been going upside down forever,’” Barbaro says with a laugh. “I would do handstands before flights…it helped me control some of the weird feelings of blood rushing to spaces you don’t usually want it to.” For this reason, Barbaro is one of the few actors on set who did not throw up while filming her intense flight sequences.
She might not have made it to the set of Top GunDespite a strong IMDB profile, Barbaro is about to change. Barbaro has been signed to star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger’s spy thriller. In Glamour’sMonica Barbaro shares her inspirations in the latest issue of New Here Top Gun character, breaking the rules on set, and what it’s like having a Barbie designed in your image.
Source: Glamour