Monica Barbaro Named to Variety’s “10 Actors to Watch” List for 2024

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro has earned must-watch status…

The 34-year-old part-Mexican American actress has been named to Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch list for 2024.

Previously seen as a pilot in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, Barbaro will play legendary singer Joan Baez opposite Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown.

But Barbaro isn’t the only Latina/o actor to make this year’s list.

Karla Sofía Gascón has earned a spot on the coveted list after playing the title role in Emilia Pérez in the film of the same name. The Spanish actress shared the best actress prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with her co-stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez.

Josh Rivera is also an actor to watch.

He made his film debut in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and can currently be seen playing the title role in Ryan Murphy’s American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez for FX.

The annual list names breakthrough and up-and-coming actors whose stars are on the rise.

Over the years, the list has included more than 35 Oscar winners and nominees, including Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet and Brie Larson.

The10 to Watch lists have been a Variety staple since 1997, with Actors to Watch highlighted since 1998, with many performers from awards season prospects.

This year is no exception, including actors in such high-profile upcoming films as “Emilia Pérez,” “Queer,” “A Complete Unknown” and “Gladiator II.”

The honorees will be profiled in the October 17 issue of Variety and feted at a special brunch on October 20 at the Newport Beach Film Festival Honors presented by Visit Newport Beach.

“The Newport Beach Film Festival is immensely proud to host Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch. Variety has a long history of identifying key talent that will impact our creative environment,” says Gregg Schwenk, CEO and co-founder of the fest. “This year’s class is a great reflection of the diversity and depth of talent that exists in the industry today.”

“The fall film festival season is once again in full swing and once again screens everywhere are filled with exciting, dynamic performances by emerging actors who renew our faith in the future of cinema,” adds Variety’s senior VP global content/executive editor, Steven Gaydos. “As Variety has done since 1997, we’ve selected 10 talented performers from current films of all genres who all share one common characteristic: the capacity for greatness.”

This year’s 10 Actors to Watch are:

Monica Barbaro – Previously seen as a pilot in the blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick,” Barbaro will play legendary singer Joan Baez opposite Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown.”

Zoë Chao – After starring roles in “The Afterparty” and “Party Down,” Chao will be seen in “Nightbitch” with Amy Adams and “The Roses” with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman.

Ryan Destiny – The actress/singer/songwriter delivers a breakthrough performance as Olympic boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields in “The Fire Inside,” written by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins and directed by Oscar nominee Rachel Morrison.

Karla Sofía Gascón – The Spanish actor plays the title role in “Emilia Pérez,” for which she shared the best actress prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with her co-stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez.

Fred Hechinger – After starring in “Thelma,” Hechinger’s busy year includes roles in “Gladiator II,” “Nickel Boys” and “Kraven the Hunter.”

Ella Hunt – Previously seen in the series “Dickinson,” Hunt portrays the legendary Gilda Radner in Jason Reitman’s film “Saturday Night” and appears in Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga” films.

David Jonsson – After his acclaimed film debut in “Rye Lane,” Jonsson stole scenes in “Alien: Romulus” and will next be seen in the films “The Long Walk” and “Wasteman.”

Josh Rivera – Rivera made his film debut in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and can currently be seen playing the title role in Ryan Murphy’s “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” for FX.

Drew Starkey – The “Outer Banks” star is earning raves for his breakthrough film role opposite Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.”

Toby Wallace – Following a standout turn in “The Bikeriders,” Wallace will next appear in Ron Howard’s “Eden,” Justin Lin’s “Last Days” and “Inside” with Guy Pearce.”

Netflix Renews Monica Barbaro’s “Fubar” for Second Season

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro’s spy career continues…

Netflix’s Fubar, starring the 32-year-old part-Mexican American actress and Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been renewed for a second season.

Fubar debuted its eight-episode first season on May 25, and follows a C.I.A. operative Luke Brunner (Schwarzenegger) who discovers a family secret that pulls him back into the field and delays his retirement plans.

Barbaro portrays his daughter, Emma.

Following the May premiere, Fubar opened with 88.94 million hours viewed in its first four days of availability.

Alongside Schwarzenegge and Barbaro as the father-daughter duo, the series also stars Fortune Feimster as Roo, Jay Baruchel as Carter, Aparna Brielle as Tina, Andy Buckley as Donnie, Barbara Eve Harris as Dot, Gabriel Luna as Boro, Milan Carter as Barry, Fabiana Udenio as Tally and Travis Van Winkle as Aldon.

Schwarzenegger also serves as an executive producer alongside creator and showrunner Nick Santora.

In a recent interview with Variety, Barbaro revealed that her off-screen dynamic with Schwarzenegger resembled their characters’ father-daughter history: “It was kind of perfect that we had this father-daughter dynamic, because we would just give each other shit all day. I think that helped us a lot to find that sort of familial chemistry. He was also kind enough to let me ask him anything about his experience and all of that”

Giovanni M. Porta Signs with Range Media Partners

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Giovanni M. Porta is expanding his range…

The Latino screenwriter and producer has signed with Range Media Partners.

Porta’s first produced project, At Midnight, premiered on Paramount+ in February.

The Mexican rom-com directed by Jonah Feingold tells the story of two people who do their best not to fall in love. The film centers on hotel manager Alejandro (Diego Boneta), who lives a predictable life according to plan, and Sophie (Monica Barbaro), a beautiful rising movie star with an unreliable celebrity boyfriend. During a visit to Mexico’s beach to shoot scenes for her new movie, Super Society, Sophie meets and becomes enamored with Alejandro. Neither of them will be able to avoid falling in love and going against all odds.

Porta wrote the script with Feingold and Maria Hinojosa and also served as co-executive producer.

He currently has further projects in development with Paramount+, as well as such notable producers as Platinum Dunes, Mandalay Pictures, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Karen Rosenfelt.

Porta previously penned the biopic Hedy, on the Old Hollywood starlet Hedy Lamarr, which Amazon Studios awarded Best Screenplay, as part of the Athena’s List screenwriting competition in 2019.

The Pepperdine University grad was born and raised in both Miami, Florida and Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Range Media Partners is a management and production company, founded in September of 2020, with clientele spanning film, television, music, literary, tech and activism.

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes to Serve as Presenter at This Year’s PGA Awards

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes is headed to the PGA Awards…

The Producers Guild of America has revealed the presenters lineup for the 34th annual PGA Awards, to be held on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, with the 40-year-old half-Mexican American actress/comedian making the list.

In addition to Johnson-Reyes, other notable celebrities set to take the stage to present throughout the evening include Angela Bassett, Austin Butler, Billy Eichner, Bob Odenkirk, Brendan Fraser, Cate Blanchett, Danielle Deadwyler, Dave Burd, Diego Luna, Eugenio Derbez, Hannah Einbinder, Hong Chau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jay Ellis, Kate Hudson, Ke Huy Quan, Kerry Condon, Leslie Odom, Jr., Michelle Williams, Michelle Yeoh, Mo Amer, Monica Barbaro, Nicole Byer, Paul Dano, Robert Rodriguez, Ron Howard, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sandra Oh, Sherry Lansing and Stephanie Hsu.

The PGA Awards celebrate the producers behind the best films, television series, and new media projects of the year.

Widely known as a reliable bellwether for the Best Picture category at the Oscars, the PGA has nominated Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion: Knives Out Mystery, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick and The Whale for its Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures Award.

The 2023 Producers Guild of America Awards is produced by Anchor Street Collective for the Producers Guild of America.

Diego Boneta Starring in the Paramount+ Romantic Comedy “At Midnight”

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

The clock is ticking for Diego Boneta…

The 32-year-old Mexican actor and Luis Miguel: La Series star is starring in the Paramount+ romantic comedy At Midnight, which will premiere on February 10.

“You won’t hear me sing but you’ll see me dance with my co-star Monica Barbaro,” says Boneta. “We wanted to do something different. Luis Miguel was a big part of my life these past 5 years and it was an amazing experience, At Midnight is its own thing. It’s a love letter to Mexico, as well. There aren’t enough rom-coms shot there in the same vein as Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris. Mexico is a character in this film and you’ll see it through the eyes of our director Jonah (Feingold).”

At Midnight centers around Alejandro (Boneta), an ambitious hotel manager, and Sophie (Barbaro) a movie star navigating the politics of Hollywood. He’s focused on opening his own boutique hotel. She’s trying to focus on shooting her new superhero film Super Society 3, in hopes of getting her own spinoff, but catches her co-star (and boyfriend!) Adam (Anders Holm) cheating. Fate strikes when the shoot brings them all to Alejandro’s hotel in Mexico.

Barbaro, who is fresh off her role in Top Gun: Maverick, shared what a great time she had in Mexico City where her family hails from. She also revealed what attracted her the most to the project—celebrating the beauty of Mexico.

“The Diego introduction to Mexico City means you go to the best of the best restaurants. Even if no tables are available, they will make room for Diego. The experience was a whole different thing, not in a bad way. That was a lot of fun” she laughed.

“I was always very aware of how Mexico is represented [in media] like it’s a desert wasteland, which is not the case,” she added. “That should be obvious, but it really isn’t to some people. Mexico City is truly a city and it feels just like New York City does. Every city has its own personality. That’s one of the reasons I was really drawn to this project. Representing Mexico City in a way that a local would and highlighting it as it actually is and not some Hollywood idea of what it is.”

MUBI Acquires U.S. & Canadian Distribution Rights to Monica Barbaro’s “The Cathedral”

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro is heading to the cathedral…

MUBI has picked up the U.S. and Canadian rights to Ricky D’Ambrose’s The Cathedral starring the part-Mexican American actress and Top Gun: Maverick star.

Visit Films is handling international rights and will be bringing the feature to the Marché du film in Cannes, following a deal negotiated with Ryan Kampe and Lydia Rodman of Visit on behalf of the filmmakers.

The Cathedral is a semi-autobiographical account of Notes on an Appearance director D’Ambrose’s childhood, as well as a reflection of the U.S. during a specific moment in time.

Spanning 20 years, the film is a sprawling impressionistic portrait of the Damrosch family seen through the eyes of only child, Jesse Damrosch. As the family buckles under the weight of his parents’ disintegrating marriage, Jesse comes into his own as a young man and artist.

Barbaro stars alongside Brian d’Arcy, Mark Zeisler, Geraldine Singer and William Bednar-Carter. The film is produced by Graham Swon and executive produced by David Lowery, through Swon’s production company Ravenser Odd.

D’Ambrose said: “MUBI’s history of championing filmmakers I admire greatly means The Cathedral will be in good hands, and that the film will continue exist beyond its run at festivals. ”

Gabriel Luna to Star Opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Netflix & Skydance Television’s Spy Adventure Series

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Gabriel Luna is teaming up with the former Governator.

The 39-year-old Mexican American actor has joined the cast of Netflix and Skydance Television’s untitled Arnold Schwarzenegger spy adventure series as a series regular.

Luna joins a roster that includes previously announced female lead Monica Barbaro and new cast additions Travis Van Winkle, Fortune Feimster, Jay Baruchel, Milan Carter, Fabiana Udenio, Barbara Eve Harris, Aparna Brielle and Andy Buckley.

Additionally, the series, from creator, executive producer and showrunner Nick Santora has cast five recurring players, Devon Bostick, David Chinchilla, Stephanie Sy, Scott Thompson and child actor Rachel Lynch.

In the untitled series (informally referred to as Fubar), when a father and daughter learn that they’ve each secretly been working as CIA Operatives for years, they realize their entire relationship has been a lie and they truly don’t know one another at all. Forced to team up as partners, the series tackles universal family dynamics set against a global backdrop of spies, action and humor.

Luna will play Boro, an incredibly charismatic, Oxford-educated businessman, who’s chosen to apply those skills to a career in the illegal arms trade.

Udenio will play Tally, Luke’s ex-wife and Emma’s mother, who does not know that the two are in the CIA, but has always been suspicious of Luke’s frequent “business trips” which created distance in their relationship. Tally now has a new man in her life, but the chemistry between her and Luke is still palpable.

Luna will be reuniting with Schwarzenegger on the project after starring together in Terminator: Dark Fate.

Netflix Gives Series Order to Monica Barbaro’s Global Spy Adventure with Arnold Schwarzenegger

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

The spy’s the limit for Monica Barbaro…

Netflix has given an eight-episode series order to an untitled one-hour global spy adventure starring the 30-year-old part Mexican American actress and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In his first major foray into scripted television, Schwarzenegger will also executive produce the series.

The streamer landed the Skydance TV-produced hourlong series in a competitive situation last November for development with a script-to-series commitment.

In the series, created by Nick Santora, when a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Barbaro) learn that they’ve each secretly been working as CIA Operatives for years, they realize their entire relationship has been a lie and they truly don’t know one another at all. Forced to team up as partners, our series tackles universal family dynamics set against a global backdrop of spies, fantastic action and humor.

“Fans from all over the world have been asking me for a wild ride like this for years, and now they’re finally going to get it because of our great partners at Skydance and Netflix,” Schwarzenegger said. “I am beyond pumped to start work on the show with Nick and Monica and the whole team.”

Santora created and developed the original idea and is executive producing the untitled series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television. The project was developed internally at Skydance TV and the independent studio cast the two leads before taking it out to the streaming marketplace.

Barbaro’s previous credits include her roles as Yael in season 2 of Unreal and as Cora Vasquez in The Good Cop.

Netflix Acquires Skydance Television’s Global Spy Adventure Series Starring Monica Barbaro & Arnold Schwarzenegger

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro is heading to Netflix…

Skydance Television’s hour-long global spy adventure series starring the 30-year-old Latina actress and Arnold Schwarzenegger has landed at Netflix.

The project will reportedly now head into development with a script-to-series commitment.

Created by Nick Santora, the series, marking Schwarzenegger’s first major foray into scripted television, is described as a global spy adventure with a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Barbaro) at the center of the story.

Santora is executive producing the untitled series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television.

Schwarzenegger executive produces the new series along with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost; Carolyn Harris will oversee the project for the company.

The project was developed internally at Skydance TV and the independent studio cast the two leads before taking it out to the streaming marketplace.

The series extends Skydance TV’s relationship with Netflix where the company produces long-running hit comedy Grace and Frankie and also produced Altered Carbon.

Barbaro will next appear on film in Top Gun: Maverick.

Her previous credits include appearances on Stumptown, Splitting Up Together, The Good Cop, Lethal Weapon and Unreal.

Monica Barbaro to Star Opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Global Spy Adventure Series

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro is joining a Terminator on the spy beat…

The 30-year-old Latina actress has been cast as the co-lead alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a global spy adventure series, which is in the works at Skydance Television.

Created by Nick Santora, the series features a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Barbaro) at the center of the story.

Barbaro was approached for the series on the heels of her starring turn as Phoenix, the sole female fighter pilot, in the upcoming Top Gun sequel, which Skydance co-produces with Paramount. It’s slated for a theatrical release in July 2021.

Schwarzenegger’s involvement in the show also stems from his existing relationship with Skydance on the feature side, having starred in Terminator Genisys and Terminator: Dark Fate for the studio.

Santora is developing and executive producing the untitled series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television. He also serves as executive producer/showrunner of the studio’s upcoming Jack Reacher drama for Amazon.