In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor also recounted the unforgettable days when star Tom Cruise gave her cinematography and storytelling lessons. In 2004, Becky Calder became the first woman pilot to graduate from TOPGUN, so in keeping with their commitment to verisimilitude, Top Gun: Maverick’s brain trust knew that their film needed to follow suit. That’s where Monica Barbaro enters the picture as Lt. Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, whose skills and reliability made her an easy choice for the film’s climactic mission. Barbaro admits that the character changed a lot throughout the entire process, and looking back, she’s relieved that she didn’t become a love interest to Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller) as originally rumored.
“When I first booked the role, there was a rumor going around that I was playing Miles’ love interest, which was funny because one of my favorite things about Phoenix is that she’s not a love interest. In this context, it was just a real honor to get to be a highly capable professional who’s taken seriously,” Barbaro tells The Hollywood Reporter. Oddly enough, Barbaro’s audition process emphasized her performance of “Great Balls of Fire” since Phoenix, along with Jay Ellis’ Payback, Danny Ramirez’s Fanboy and Louis Pullman’s Bob, joined Rooster for his piano-bar performance of the song. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense why director Joseph Kosinski would prioritize the beloved song during casting, as the sequence foreshadows which characters would go on to fly alongside Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) during the dangerous final mission. “There was a moment in time where she was supposed to drum in the scene. It’s obviously no longer in the film, and thank goodness, because I am not a drummer. But at one point, I was drumming on my knees, screaming ‘Great balls of fire!’” Barbaro shares. In a spoiler conversation with THR, Barbaro also recounted the days on set when Cruise gave her cinematography and storytelling lessons.
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