Who is Monica Barbaro? What other TV shows and movies has she been in?

Monica Barbaro in FUBAR
Monica Barbaro plays Emma Brunner in FUBAR. (Image credit: Netflix)

Monica Barbaro stars opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Netflix action series FUBAR, and you might be wondering where else you've seen the actress.

In the explosive series, Monica plays the role of hard-hitting CIA agent Emma, who is the daughter of Arnold's CIA Operative Luke Brunner. But before taking on this role, she's had a very varied career.

In fact, according to an interview with Variety, Monica used to be a ballerina before getting into acting. But despite the two jobs sounding very different, she actually mentioned some things they have in common.

Monica explained: "I think there are actually more similarities than you would think. In ballet, there’s such attention to detail in literally every limb of your body and how it moves exactly. I think learning stunts and choreography and a character’s physicality requires that same attention to detail."

Here's everything you need to know about Monica Barbaro...

Who is Monica Barbaro? 

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Monica Barbaro in FUBAR

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Monica Barbaro in FUBAR. (Image credit: Netflix)

Monica Barbaro is an American actress who was born on June 18, 1990 in San Francisco. 

She started dancing at an early age and went on to study ballet, where she eventually got a degree in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. However, she decided to get into acting and attended the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school, which led her to get roles in some great movies and TV shows.

What else has Monica Barbaro starred in? Was Monica Barbaro in Top Gun: Maverick?

Most recently, Monica starred in the blockbuster movie Top Gun: Maverick where she played the role of Natasha "Phoenix" Trace. In promotional material for the movie, her character was described as "loyal" and "the leader of the group", so she made quite the impression on fans!

Outside of this, she has also starred in popular crime shows such as Chicago P.D., Chicago Justice and Hawaii Five-0, so she's no stranger to action scenes. 

In 2023 she did voice acting work for the Square Enix video game
Forspoken,
where she plays the role of helper and healer character Auden Keen, who also serves as one of the primary characters in the game.

She is also set to play activist and folk singer Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring opposite Timothee Chalamet.

FUBAR is available to stream on Netflix globally.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress