Joan Baez has given actress Monica Barbaro props for her portrayal of the musician in A Complete Unknown – see what Baez had to say below.
Speaking to the Marin Independent Journal, Baez spoke about Barbaro’s portrayal of herself in the acclaimed Bob Dylan biopic. Baez revealed she was a fan of Barbaro’s take on the role: “I loved what she did in the film.”
She continued: “If I didn’t think she was good at it, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it in general. But she looked enough like me and she had my gestures down. You could tell who it was. She worked so hard. Kudos to her for taking the role on.”
Joan Baez also looked back on her relationship with Dylan, and was glad that their romance was only briefly reflected in the film, laughing: “It was pleasantly brief.” Baez also mentioned her granddaughter’s reaction to seeing their romance on the big screen: “She said, ‘I don’t want to see my grandmother making out in a film.’”
In a 2023 documentary, Baez referred to her romance with Dylan as “totally demoralising”, noting that although she had forgiven them, they were no longer in contact.
Reviewing the movie, NME awarded it four stars and said: “So many of the performances in A Complete Unknown fizz with this kind of tense, gripping energy – whether it’s because Dylan and Baez are bickering through ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ or he’s managed to bottle the anxiety of an entire city awaiting nuclear armageddon in a Cold War protest song.
“The most important (and often trickiest) job of any music movie is to get the music right. And this nails that. If you’re a Bob newbie, you’ll leave the cinema ready to dive into his back catalogue. If you’re already a fan, the next few weeks will be spent making playlists of lesser-known B-sides or reading the lore around a scene you weren’t familiar with. And that’s why it was a good idea to make this film – a mad idea, but a good one.”
NME has launched a special print edition magazine celebrating the film and the legacy of Dylan. The 26-page one-shot is available now – find out where to get it here.
