The California star may have earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Joan Baez in Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, but as she prepares for her stage debut in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, she says impostor syndrome is still a big problem<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m imitating an American\u00a0accent, but it really is mine,\u201d Monica Barbaro jokes. The actor has spent the morning rehearsing in an English accent for her stage debut in\u00a0the\u00a0National Theatre\u2019s revival of Les\u00a0Liaisons Dangereuses. During interviews, she says, she switches back. \u201cI feel it\u2019s best to use my own voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Barbaro \u2013 Oscar-nominated for her portrayal of activist and folk singer Joan Baez in James Mangold\u2019s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown \u2013 is using that voice to reflect on a new chapter as a theatre actor. She\u00a0is\u00a0playing Madame de Tourvel, one of literature\u2019s most famous casualties of seduction and manipulation.\u00a0It\u2019s a daunting challenge, not least because of the role\u2019s formidable lineage, with Juliet Stevenson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Annette Stroyberg and Reese Witherspoon among those who have previously taken it on. \u201cSpeaking aloud in a theatre for this big of an audience is new for me,\u201d she says, apprehensively.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/7d8229c53e93292dfd459caa9d86a3950c31bbb8\/0_1196_5315_4252\/master\/5315.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=fcef3c2833bee80cd2aedb6ad7b754d9\" "\\"Monica")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"