The 2025 Oscar nominees list was filled with first-time nominees. Examples include Mikey Madison, Kieran Culkin, and A Complete Unknown’s Monica Barbaro. Her Top Gun: Maverick co-star, Danny Ramirez, made sure to send a sweet shout-out to her at the Oscars, describing seeing the nominee there as “one of my most beautiful moments.”
Danny Ramirez may be known recently for kicking ass in the cast of Captain American: Brave New World, but he can’t forget about literally breaking “the glass ceiling” in Top Gun: Maverick. Even filming the MCU movie, the American actor had Tom Cruise on the brain while doing his stunts. So, it makes sense why at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party he thought of another Top Gun: Maverick co-star, Monica Barbaro. In an X video, he gave a sweet shout-out to the Best Supporting Actress nominee and how seeing her recognized was a “beautiful” moment for the On My Block actor:
So, having done Top Gun with her, and she’s one of my best buds, and seeing her name up there and all her work being received in the way it has been, has been like, to me, one of my most beautiful moments of my career. Which is—to even know, like, it’s like, it’s her career, but I feel, like, so connected to watching her succeed and the work she puts into it. Yeah, it’s beautiful to watch.
It’s so sweet to call seeing his former co-star receive Oscar recognition as “one of the most beautiful moments” of his career. How beautiful is it to see fellow actors supporting each other with their nominations? I can understand how Danny Ramirez feels touched to witness a career milestone in Monica Barbaro. As a film’s cast works as a team, it’s like seeing one of your own achieve something incredible. As we’ve learned in the Top Gun movies, no one flies solo.
The two did share a lot of scenes in the Top Gun sequel, playing a new generation of pilots who either trained in flight or played beach volleyball on the ground. Not to mention, the stars 100% had a group chat. So, the closeness they shared during filming naturally carried on years after the Memorial Day box office hit.
Monica Barbaro was more than worthy of her Oscar nomination. Her take on filming A Complete Unknown “vulnerable” to her singing and playing the guitar live as Joan Baez. You’d think the impressive aerial department work she did for Top Gun: Maverick would have been more challenging, right? But the way that she captured Joan Baez’s voice reminded me so much of when Reese Witherspoon portrayed June Carter in Walk the Line. It was a rare kind of performance of Barbaro’s where she fully embodied the folk singer’s presence.
The adorable moment of Danny Ramirez expressing how proud he was for his Top Gun: Maverick co-star to be recognized at the Oscars was very sweet to see. It’s proof of how close the ensemble cast of the Top Gun sequel were to one another, with a friendship going far beyond sharing screentime. You can rewatch the duo in Top Gun: Maverick, available on your Paramount+ subscription. Make sure to also watch Ramirez play Falcon in the 2025 movie release of Captain America: Brave New World in theaters now.
