Monica Barbaro’s Oscar-nominated performance has put the spotlight on Joan Baez, who was once in love with the famous Bob Dylan. When Baez and Dylan met in 1962, she had already appeared on the Time magazine cover and he was just getting introduced to the New York folk scene. They dated for three years. When Dylan became popular, he broke up with her.
It took a long time for Baez to get over the heartache but she eventually forgave Dylan after an emotional moment. Barbaro was nominated for Best Actress for portraying Joan Baez in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. The film is also nominated for a Best Picture award.
Bob Dylan broke Joan Baez’s heart but she forgave him in a heart-aching moment
Fans got to see Bob Dylan and Joan Baez’s three-year whirlwind romance in A Complete Unknown. Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro portrayed the two characters brilliantly and earned Oscar nominations for their respective roles. Baez opened up about the romance in her 2023 documentary, I Am A Noise.
She shared in the documentary, “Dylan broke my heart.” She carried the heartache for a long period until she let go of her resentment. Baez is a painter too and she began painting a portrait of the singer. When she looked at her emerging painting, all she could see was the “young face with baby fat” of the singer.
She shared, “I put on his music and I started to cry.” Baez shared that her tears for the singer washed away all her resentment and she was left with nothing but gratitude for Dylan. She shared (via USA Today):
All that resentment completely washed away and all I was left with was gratitude that I’d met him, gratitude for all those songs, gratitude for the time period that we merged in. I might still make wisecracks about him, but all the unhappy, gritty (bullsh*t) is done.
Baez shared with USA Today that she doesn’t see or talk to Dylan anymore but the moments they have spoken since the breakup were nice. Dylan too only had nice things to say about Baez, especially in his 2009 documentary Bob Dylan & Joan Baez. He shared, “Joanie was at the forefront in a new dynamic in American music. That soprano voice, I couldn’t get it out of my mind.”
Monica Barbaro felt intimidated to reach out to Joan Baez about her performance
Monica Barbaro got obsessed over every detail of Joan Baez when she researched the role for A Complete Unknown. She shared with Yahoo! Entertainment that when she began filming she started having dreams about meeting her. She also shared that she felt intimidated to reach out to Baez regarding the role.
She shared that she wasn’t sure of what conversation to have with her. Barbaro gathered up the courage after reading Baez’s memoir, where the singer mentioned walking up to folk-blues singer Odetta and singing one of her songs. Barbaro shared, “I was like, ‘I think I can talk to this woman,’ so I snuck around and got my reps to get me her number.”
They had a “brief, but beautiful” conversation and Barbaro got emotional after hearing Baez’s voice. Barbaro shared that Baez “had been hoping I would reach out.” Barbaro worked with vocal coach Eric Vetro to perfect her singing voice for the role.
A Complete Unknown is now available for rent on AppleTV.
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