Which role meant more to Monica Barbaro’s career than ‘Top Gun’ or her Oscar nod?
Monica Barbaro says there’s a career milestone she values more than her Top Gun success — or even Academy Award recognition — and it’s probably not the one you’d guess.
Asked on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast to single out the job that truly shifted her career, Monica Barbaro didn’t point to jets or award-show glamour. She went straight to the TV set where she finally felt like she belonged: UnREAL.
“Yeah. Maybe one of the most in my body,” she said, “because it felt like a confirmation that I could be a working actor. ”
Getting there took years of piecing it together: short films, commercial gigs, even the occasional agent introduction she’d snag on set. Earning a SAG card ironically made commercial bookings tougher, so she filled the gaps with dog walking and bartending, kept training, and kept going. Even after UnREAL hit, she banked every paycheck, bracing for the work to vanish again.
Since then, Barbaro has stacked bigger projects — including Top Gun: Maverick — and now she’s heading into a glossy caper of her own.
Ocean’s prequel next
Barbaro is joining the cast of the new Ocean’s Eleven prequel that Bradley Cooper is directing, producing and writing for Warner Bros. The film is built on characters created by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell and reportedly shifts the spotlight to Danny Ocean’s parents. Margot Robbie has indicated the story unfolds around the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, where the elder Oceans pull off a heist that sets the family blueprint.
- Monica Barbaro — cast (role under wraps)
- Bradley Cooper — cast; also director, producer and screenwriter
- Margot Robbie — cast; producing via LuckyChap Entertainment
- Wagner Moura — cast
The studio is targeting June 25, 2027 for the film’s theatrical release through Warner Bros.