Bio
Monica Barbaro is an American actress best known for her starring role as Anna Valdez, a well-educated, whip-smart, quick-tongued and sharp-witted Assistant State's Attorney, in the legal drama television series Chicago Justice.
Barbaro was born in San Francisco and raised in Mill Valley, California. She is classically trained in ballet and has studied modern dance, salsa, flamenco and West African dance.
She attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she took her first acting classes while getting her bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. After university, Barbaro studied at various acting schools in San Francisco and Los Angeles, including the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
She first appeared in television in an episode of the sci-fi series Stitchers, in 2015. Her big break came the following hear when she played the recurring role of Yael, also known as "Hot Rachel", in the Lifetime drama series UnREAL.
Other television series she has acted in include Hawaii Five-0, Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Notorious and Chicaco P.D.