'FUBAR' star Monica Barbaro recalls awkward first meeting with Tom Cruise for 'Top Gun: Maverick': 'I forgot my name'

2023-05-25 14:59

'He walks down the hallway, and suddenly, I couldn’t feel my legs,' recollected 'FUBAR' actress Monica Barbaro

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Monica Barbaro and Arnold Schwarzenegger "goofed around a lot" on the set of ‘FUBAR’, an upcoming action comedy series a father-daughter duo who are spies. She says ‘The Terminator’ star playing her on-screen father was like as she expressed that she "would be asking questions and he'd be like, 'Better not to know.'"

She spoke about her role and told People, "I think it's really fun to get to learn a character from head to toe, which you do anyway, but the action is just very exhilarating and fun.” However, this isn’t the first time Barbaro will be seen in action. Barbaro also landed a role in Oscar-nominated 'Top Gun: Maverick' where she played the character of pilot Natasha with code name Phoenix. Speaking to Elle in June 2022, she said, "I was super stoked because of the fact that I got to play a pilot. I told my mom immediately, and that my part in this classic action movie was not going to be that of a love interest."

What is 'FUBAR' about? Plot of Netflix action-comedy show starring Arnold Schwarzenegger explained

How did Monica Barbaro react when she met Tom Cruise?

However, the actress also shared what it was like to meet Tom Cruise for the first time in an episode of 'The Late Late Show with James Corden'. She said, “We were all standing in the hallway, being cool. He walks down the hallway, and suddenly, I couldn’t feel my legs! [He] shakes my hands, looks deep into my eyes, and I just forgot my name,” she told Corden as she narrated their first meet-up.

Barbaro said that in spite of having a chaotic work ethic, he was relatable and approachable, reported The Things. She said that working with the icon was very rewarding and she grasped a lot of understanding about Cruise’s filmmaking approach. She said, “I remember a day when Tom Cruise was explaining a detail he had changed and why he changed it. Offhandedly, he said, ‘Well I was watching 'Casablanca' last night,' and I realized how his practice of constantly studying great historical films informs all of his creative decisions. Every day on set, we discussed the importance of making this a timeless film."

'It’s a lot of pressure because as one woman, it feels like you have to represent all women'

Talking about choosing specific roles, she said, as stated by Gulf Today, "It’s a lot of pressure because as one woman, it feels like you have to represent all women in some way, but that just isn’t reality. That doesn’t make any sense, so you have to just make some choices about the character. Different women go about the job in different ways, but what we chose for Phoenix was what was best for the story as a whole.”