Monica Barbaro trusted Artificial would find a new studio after drop

Monica Barbaro had full faith that her upcoming movie Artificial would find a new home after being dropped by its original studio.

In June, officials at Amazon confirmed they had dropped Luca Guadagnino's latest movie, starring Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. It soon got picked up by Neon executives, who will reportedly release it in time for this year's awards race.

Addressing the studio switch during an interview with InStyle, Barbaro insisted that she wasn't too worried about the reshuffle.

"I don't want to sound callous about it, but I wasn't concerned," the A Complete Unknown star said. "I just trusted so much of the feedback I was getting about the movie, that it was really well liked, and I trust in Luca."

She explained that the Challengers director set up a meeting shortly after her Met Gala debut in May 2025 and she was subsequently cast as Mira Murati, the chief technology officer of OpenAI.

She shot the film between July and October last year alongside Garfield, Mark Rylance, Ike Barinholtz and Cooper Hoffman, among many others.

The Top Gun: Maverick star, who has been dating Garfield since early 2025, also heaped praise on working with her boyfriend and co-star.

"I mean, he's one of the best actors of his generation, our generation," she gushed. "I just learned a lot from his approach to the material and to developing character, and I felt very fortunate to get to witness that in real time."

She added that he made her think: "Oh s**t, I really have to step up my game and make sure I'm a proper, legitimate scene partner."

Artificial tells the story of Altman's OpenAI and the turbulent period when he was fired and rehired within days in 2023.

It will mark Barbaro's third release of 2026 after Crime 101 and the romantic comedy One Night Only, which is in cinemas now.