No showdown: Monica Barbaro never confronted Timothée Chalamet over his ballet comments
Monica Barbaro weighs in on Timothée Chalamet’s ballet comments—and whether she ever addressed them—with an answer that may surprise you.
Pressed about the uproar over Timothée Chalamet’s comments on ballet and opera, Monica Barbaro said her read on the moment was shaped by what she heard while the two were filming A Complete Unknown together. On Happy Sad Confused with Josh Horowitz, she explained that on set Chalamet often talked about his sister’s dancing with clear admiration — context that made her think his point was less about knocking ballet and more about how audiences have drifted away from those art forms.
“No, I didn’t,”
That was Barbaro’s answer when Horowitz asked if she’d texted Chalamet after the backlash. She added that she can’t know exactly what he meant, but based on their conversations, she took it as commentary on attention, funding, and accessibility for ballet and opera, not a dismissal of them. She also stressed that Chalamet should speak for himself about his phrasing, saying she prefers not to lead with offense when there could be a larger point about how little support those institutions get.
Why her take matters
Barbaro isn’t weighing in as a casual observer — she grew up in the studio and onstage before pivoting to acting. Her training started in childhood and carried through college, giving her a front-row view of how hard it is to keep classical dance thriving.
- Started ballet at age 5; by 12, performed as Fritz in The Nutcracker with Marin Ballet
- Expanded into modern dance, salsa, flamenco, and West African styles
- Earned a BFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts
- Says the physical demands eventually pushed her toward acting, but that ballet still informs her screen work
Barbaro made her remarks during Horowitz’s podcast conversation while discussing their time working together on A Complete Unknown.