Joan Baez, the Legend That You Are
On Monday, Rolling Stone revealed Timothee Chalamet as its December cover star just in time for the release of A Complete Unknown, the biographical drama in which he stars as Bob Dylan. I'll be frank: if you don't care how the sausage is made, the story is a bit boring. In fairness, it's not the journalist's fault. All Chalamet seemed willing to speak about at length was his process and his previous aspirations of becoming a rapper. In other words, if you're hoping for an answer as to what he and Kylie Jenner talk about, you'll have to keep using your imagination.
The irony of the story—much like that of the famed folk singer, if you asked me—is that nothing Chalamet said about Dylan (who never met with Chalamet) really stuck. Instead, it's his co-star, Monica Barbaro, who portrays Joan Baez, who made the most interesting contributions.
Barbaro told Rolling Stone that she reached out to Baez after having reoccurring dreams about meeting her: “I was so immersed in research, and it still felt like there was something missing in not approaching her. It just felt like there needed to be a connection made.” I mean, makes sense! If you're playing a living legend, one would assume the only logical thing to do is to instigate a chat and pick their brain.
When she did ring up Baez, Barbaro said she told her how she was feeling remorseful about taking part in a story that paints Baez as a supporting character in the life of a "legend."
“Her life is so much more significant than just the part it played in Bob’s life,” Barbaro said. “She deserves her own biopic, limited series, whatever.” In 2023, she did get her own gorgeous documentary, I Am A Noise, but speak on it! At what point will Hollywood truly let the "even greater woman" come out from behind "every great man"? According to Barbaro, however, Baez responded in a way only she could.
“At one point, she was like, ‘I’m just in my garden, looking at birds,'" she remembered. "I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, you don’t live or die by what this movie says about you.’”
I'm sorry but if there's a reply cooler than "I'm just in my garden, looking at birds," I don't know it. In fact, I don't have a garden and I'm afraid of most birds, but that's my new response to everything—especially a story that involves an ex that was, by most accounts, an asshole to women.
Barbaro went on to say that not only did she literally learn to sing for the role, but that while she was simultaneously working on a project with Arnold Schwarzenegger, she sang "Don't Think Twice" for him. As it turns out, his first concert was hers in the late sixties. The image of Barbaro singing for the Terminator? Almost as legendary as the image of an unbothered Baez bird-watching.
Icons all around!