Olivia Rodrigo Wants Monica Barbaro to Play Her in a Movie
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Olivia Rodrigo has said she would like Monica Barbaro, who played Joan Baez in the 2024 film *A Complete Unknown*, to portray her in a future biopic. The singer made the remark during an onstage conversation with filmmaker Cameron Crowe at the Grammy Museum, in a lighthearted exchange that also raised the idea of Rodrigo playing herself, with Crowe joking that he would be the one directing and casting the project.
Rodrigo explained that she has previously mistaken photos of Barbaro for herself and praised her as "a fantastic actress". Barbaro drew acclaim for her turn as Baez opposite Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan, having trained for five months in guitar and vocals despite no prior experience, a performance Baez herself later praised for capturing her mannerisms and gestures. During the same appearance, Rodrigo also performed several songs, including "Stupid Song", which she said was inspired by an early-morning encounter with a stranger in New York City.
- Olivia Rodrigo wants Monica Barbaro to play her in a biopic
- Barbaro played Joan Baez in *A Complete Unknown* opposite Timothée Chalamet
- Comment made during a Grammy Museum chat with Cameron Crowe
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Rodrigo, the singer-songwriter behind hits such as "drivers license" and "vampire", made her comment about a possible biopic during a public conversation with veteran filmmaker Cameron Crowe at the Grammy Museum, an event dedicated to talking about music and creativity rather than announcing any actual film project. Monica Barbaro is an American actress who gained wide recognition for playing folk singer Joan Baez alongside Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan in the 2024 film A Complete Unknown, a role for which she learned guitar and singing from scratch.
No biopic of Rodrigo has been confirmed or is in production; this was a passing, good-humoured remark rather than a formal announcement. It matters mainly as a small window into how a young pop star with an already well-documented public image thinks about her own story being told on screen, and into which actors are seen as capable of embodying real-life musicians convincingly.
Full account
Olivia Rodrigo has said she would like Monica Barbaro, best known for playing Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown, to portray her should a film ever be made of her life. The singer made the remark during an onstage conversation with the director Cameron Crowe at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, held on 1 September, during which she also performed a handful of songs for the audience.
Asked by Crowe who might play her in a biopic, Rodrigo settled on Barbaro, joking that she sometimes mistakes photographs of the actress for pictures of herself. She praised Barbaro as a “fantastic actress” before Crowe pointed out that Rodrigo, who has her own acting background, could conceivably take on the role herself. Rodrigo laughed along with the suggestion, telling Crowe that since he would be directing any such project, the casting decision would ultimately be his, and that the pair would discuss it further afterwards.
The idea has an obvious precedent: Barbaro received acclaim for her turn as Joan Baez opposite Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan in 2024's A Complete Unknown, a role that required her to learn guitar and take vocal coaching from scratch within a matter of months. Baez herself later praised the performance, telling a local newspaper that Barbaro had captured her mannerisms convincingly and had clearly worked hard to prepare for the part.
Coverage of the exchange varied in emphasis: one report focused closely on the exact back-and-forth between Rodrigo and Crowe and on the singer's account of writing her song “Stupid Song” after an early-morning encounter in New York, while another situated the remarks within the wider context of Rodrigo's recent career momentum, noting the strong opening week for her third album and the debut of her Daisy Chain Fields festival, which draws inspiration from the 1990s Lilith Fair. No firm plans for an actual Rodrigo biopic have been announced; the discussion remained speculative and light-hearted.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 gives fuller detail on Barbaro's preparation for playing Baez (five months' prep, vocal coach, guitar teacher) and on Rodrigo's performance of 'Stupid Song' and its backstory; Source 2 omits these specifics.
Source 2 provides broader career context absent from Source 1, including Rodrigo's new album's record-breaking debut week and her Daisy Chain Fields festival inspired by Lilith Fair.
Source 2 specifies the event date (1 September) and attributes the quotes to Rolling Stone's reporting, while Source 1 vaguely refers to 'last night' without sourcing the quotes to another outlet.
Source 2 identifies Barbaro via her Top Gun: Maverick role, whereas Source 1 identifies her solely through A Complete Unknown.
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