‘True Lies’ targeting trifecta of action, comedy, romance
In 1994, Arnold Schwarzenegger — at the peak of his box-office power — landed the third most popular movie of the year with “True Lies,” an entertaining blend of action, comedy, drama and romance produced by James Cameron.
It seemed ripe to become a franchise, like a twist on James Bond. Yet it never happened. Cameron got wrapped up producing a little film called “Titanic.” Then 9/11 soured Cameron on a “True Lies 2,” and Schwarzenegger became the governor of California. By the 2010s, the original movie was but a distant memory.
Nearly three decades later, CBS has managed to take the “True Lies” conceit and turn it into a weekly spy procedural with Cameron as an executive producer and Schwarzenegger nowhere in sight. The new series is now airing Wednesdays on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
The role of Harry
Tasker, a super spy for Omega Sector, has been passed to Steve Howey (“Reba,” “Shameless”), who does not remotely resemble or sound like Schwarzenegger. Instead, Howey’s Harry is tall and lithe, possessing a far more down-to-earth, family man persona than Schwarzenegger could muster.
His wife, Helen, who was played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the original film, is now portrayed by Ginger Gonzaga (“She-hulk”). Helen is raising two teens while working as a linguistics professor and is a bit bored with her marriage.
Harry’s spy cover for 17 years has been a computer equipment salesman for the insurance industry.
But in the first episode, she suspects his evasions are a cover for an affair. When confronted, he takes her on a surprise trip to Paris that also happens to be a work-related job trying to stop illegal arms dealers.
Unfortunately, said bad guys find him at a fancy restaurant while he’s having a dinner date with Helen. Harry’s cover is blown. The betrayal is serious. But he isn’t cheating on his wife per se. His justification is he’s saving the world and had no choice but to hide it from her. And she buys it.
“I think she finds it kind of sexy that her boring computer salesman husband is an international super spy,” Howey said. “That’s the unspoken dialogue of the show.”
Gonzaga, who has an improv background, worked hard “to insert quirks for Helen, anything to make it not generic. I’m glad they allowed me to do it. It keeps everything fresh.”
“She’s a comedic assassin,” Howey said. “She made me laugh every day. We broke a lot during shooting, which is a lot of fun for us. Everyone else hated us. There was such a time crunch.”
The show is helmed by Matt Nix, who created USA’S action comedy series “Burn Notice.”
Nix loved the over-thetop nature of the 1994 movie and said he knew how challenging it would be to replicate that on a broadcast TV series budget. “It’s hard for me to get a horse on an elevator,” Nix said.
Nix said the toughest part of doing “True Lies” is balancing the various genre elements.
“You can come up with the greatest spy story, but it also needs to be romantic and fun and relevant to the relationship of Harry and Helen,” he said. “You can create a fun, sweet and engaging romantic story, but it also needs to involve nuclear weapons being stopped in Qatar. You have to hit this trifecta of action, comedy and romance.”
And an acting job like this is not for the faint of heart. Howey said he insisted on doing many of his own stunts, firing his own weapons and jumping in and out of vehicles.
As a result, he pulled a quadricep and hurt his back. But the worst happened while filming the season finale: He broke his left ring finger, snapping it all the way back to the knuckle.
As for Gonzaga? “I escaped bone breaks,” she said, adding, “maybe not a mental breakdown.”