Monica Barbaro Makes Rare Comments About Boyfriend Andrew Garfield, Reveals What She ‘Learned’ from Him

Tommy McArdleWed, August 5, 2026 at 2:21 PM UTC

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Monica Barbaro and Andrew Garfield at Wimbledon on July 4, 2026Credit: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty -

Monica Barbaro discusses working with Andrew Garfield on their upcoming film Artificial and praises his acting approach

The couple, romantically linked since February 2025, keeps their personal lives private despite public speculation

Barbaro stars in the rom-com One Night Only, in theaters Aug. 7, while Artificial‘s release date is still unknown

Monica Barbaro is making rare comments about spending time with Andrew Garfield, whom she has been romantically linked to for over a year.

In InStyle‘s Fall 2026 cover story published Wednesday, Aug. 5, Barbaro, 36, spoke about her experience working with Garfield, 42, on their upcoming movie Artificial, all while she promotes her new romantic comedy, One Night Only. In Artificial, Garfield plays OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; the movie follows the time period in 2023 during which Altman was fired by the company and then rehired days later. Barbaro portrays OpenAI’s then-chief technology officer Mira Murati in the movie.

“I mean, he’s one of the best actors of his generation, our generation,” Barbaro said of her boyfriend. “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.”

As she told the outlet, working with Garfield made Barbaro feel she needed to prove herself in their scenes together. “Oh s---, I really have to step up my game and make sure I’m a proper, legitimate scene partner,” the Oscar nominee added of the experience.

Barbaro and Garfield have been romantically linked since February 2025, when a source told PEOPLE the couple was “spending time together quietly” after fans spotted them at a play in London. Back in 2024, Garfield shared during a 2024 interview with Esquirethat he “won’t ever, speak about or confirm or deny anything about my personal life with anyone, ever,” moving forward.

Monica Barbaro on the cover of InStyle’s Fall 2026 magazineCredit: Amy Harrity/InStyle

Before Artificial hits movie screens, Barbaro costars with Callum Turner in One Night Only, a rom-com where the actors portray two strangers who meet during the one night each year when sex outside marriage is legally allowed. Maya Hawke, Molly Ringwald, Okieriete Onaodowan, Este Haim, King Princess and Julia Fox costar in the movie. When InStyle asked Barbaro whether she feels she is a romantic or a cynic when it comes to love, she said she feels she is “a little bit of both.”

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“I feel like if you’re hard-up avoidant about love, it’s because, deep-down, you’re actually super romantic and you’re just afraid of getting hurt,” she said. “I dip my toe in all ideologies around romance, but mostly I’m a romantic. I’m also kind of a workaholic, so I’ve never given my life over to it, which, as a woman, I’m quite proud of. But there’s also the other side of that coin, which is: You can get to a point in your life where you wake up and you look around and you’re sort of like, Oh, have I been self-protecting by [adopting] so much autonomy and independence?”

“I’m definitely shifting some of that perspective now,” she added.

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Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro in New York City on Aug. 3, 2026Credit: Aeon/GC Images

Garfield and Barbaro costar in Artificial with Yura Borisov (Anora) and Ike Barinholtz, who portrays OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk. The movie’s supporting cast also includes Mark Rylance, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Hoffman, Billie Lourd and Zosia Mamet. Luca Guadagnino, whom Garfield just worked with on last year’s After the Hunt, directed the movie as well. According to InStyle, Guadagnino, 54, first got in touch with Barbaro after she attended the Met Gala in May 2025.

One Night Only is in theaters Aug. 7. Artificial does not yet have a release date. Garfield also has two other movies coming out this year: The Magic Faraway Tree, in theaters Aug. 21, and The Uprising, in theaters Sept. 11.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”