Inspired by James Cameron’s 1994 action-comedy film, the series True Lies premieres on CBS on Wednesday, March 1.
It follows Harry (Steve Howey), who keeps the fact that he’s a first-class international spy for Omega Sector from his wife Helen (Ginger Gonzaga), who thinks he is cheating and bored with their marriage.
When Helen shockingly discovers that her ordinary husband is leading a double life, Omega recruits her and is impressed with her fighting skills.
She then joins Harry and his top-notch operatives on worldwide covert missions. These adventures renewed their distant marriage and upended the secrecy of the Omega Sector.
CBS recently had a virtual press day to introduce True Lies, where we got to speak with the cast, executive producer, and showrunner Matt Nix. Check out some of the highlights below:
Executive producer and showrunner Matt Nix explained what inspired him to create a TV series of James Cameron’s 1994 film and what viewers can expect from the upcoming action-comedy series.
“What guided me through creating the pilot and the rest of the season was remembering what it was like to see “True Lies” in 1994. It was funny, exciting, and romantic.”
“It was a big action film and a character piece about a father trying to do his best. It didn’t take itself seriously, but it had real heart. I wanted to do something that had that same spirit.”
CBS understood my vision and encouraged me in that direction. The other executive producers, including James Cameron and McG, were great partners in holding onto that vision.”
“As we brought together the team, it began to feel possible. The first step was finding the great Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga for our Harry and Helen.”
They’re both accomplished comedians and great dramatic actors and have fantastic chemistry. They’re reminiscent of Arnold and Jamie Lee, but they have their take on the characters and unique magic.”
“Their kids, Dana and Jake, played by Annabella Didion and Lucas Jaye, felt like a real family. We had a great time building out the world of Omega Sector with Omar Benson Miller, Mike O’Gorman, and Erica Hernandez on the team. They have their family dynamic and round out our spy world in a fun way.”
“We had some amazing guest stars throughout the season, including Beverly D’Angelo, Matt Lillard, the great Tom Arnold, and many others.”
“We wanted to reinforce that the essence of “True Lies” isn’t a spectacle. While we’re proud of our stunts, “True Lies” is a show about family, about a group of people who care about each other and are working through real issues.”
“True Lies” invites the audience to laugh, have fun, and remember that whatever insanity might be going on in the world, we are all human beings trying to do our best. “
Steve Howey discussed the fun and risks of doing their stunts since he’d recently injured his finger doing one.
“During Episode 12, I had this stunt when I had to throw Luther against the wall, and I threw his stunt double against the wall, and it snapped my finger back. It hurt, but it was fun, too, at the same time because I realized we were doing something.
“However, be careful what you wish for when doing your stunts. It’s more complicated than it looks, and I’m hoping next season to use my stunt double more. “
Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga shared how they honored the 1994 version of “True Lies” and built their unique connection with each other.
“I would never, out of respect for the man, never do the impersonation. I’ve never done it, not once, and I never will. Because it’s an iconic actor, an iconic man.”
“After meeting Ginger and realizing she’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, working with her was always a good day because I knew I would laugh. We couldn’t mirror the movie. We wanted to bring our flair. And I think we did. I think we had so much fun.”
“I adore this cast. We all supported each other and were doing something exciting, but we wanted to make it our own. “
“I was lucky because I had never seen the film, and even before the pilot, I committed to not watching it because I knew Jamie has an iconic performance. The last thing I wanted to do was an impression of Jamie Lee Curtis. I love her so much, and I have so much respect for her.”
“I felt lucky that when I auditioned and looked at the script, I did my version of Helen. Since the chemistry session with Steve, this project has been joyous and fun. Most of our scenes ended with us giggling and laughing.”
“I’m lucky that I just got to keep it separate. I know the DNA is in the writing, and then I just put my Ginger version onto this Helen by default.”
“The DNA of the show is in the film, and there are so many winks at it. Now it’s 2023, and it already has that freshness to it. It’s the perfect time between when the film happened and when we remade this because it’s not so close that you’re like, “Oh, I remember the other one.”
It’s that perfect amount of time when society has evolved. The actors are going to be different. And so, we’re lucky in that way. It makes it easy to be this fresh, new thing.”
The cast discussed which shows “True Lies” reminded them of. Many of the cast answered, but the favorites were Ginger and Steve’s answers of “Duck Tales” and Matt’s response of “Moonlighting.”
“While Duck Tales sounds like a joke, this action/drama/comedy, we all dreamt about doing something like this. So, while we were doing it, it was like, “Oh, my God. We’re doing it. This is amazing.” But it’s so much work. I don’t even know how to say it.”
“To add onto that, I think some of those like “Moonlighting” is a great example of a show that plays real romance and fun, and there was a case where it didn’t take itself too seriously. At the same time, though, one of the challenges for us was like, name the action comedies on television.”
“There are a few action shows with comedy elements. But in terms of true action comedy, it’s mainly a movie genre. As Steve keeps hinting, we discovered there’s a reason people haven’t done it.”
“One of the challenges was you had to have a real case. You got to do all the things that a regular spy show would do, and then you’ve got to do all the things that kind of a family drama would do. You’ve got to play all those emotional beats. Then, you’ve also got to do many comedy things.”
“So, finding a way to do all those things without having the comedy undermine the action or without having the heart of the family story overwhelming the other elements, it’s a balance.”
“We had tonal touchstones, which were pretty retro. We’ve been through a period where a lot of television is like vegetable TV, and this is more like dessert TV. Like, that’s kind of how we roll.”
“Hopefully, it’s maybe a more balanced meal than that. But it is true there’s not a lot of action comedy on television. So, you know, we had touchstones but didn’t have models.”
Ginger shared how she prepared for Helen’s fight scenes.
“If you want a fascinating tale, this cast is insanely close, and on the last night of the pilot, we went to New Orleans. I was assaulted by a woman, literally taken by my hair and thrown onto the ground. It wasn’t until I saw Steve Howey’s legs marching over my body to stop said woman that I knew I would be okay.”
So, I was, unfortunately, a damsel in distress in real life in that situation. I think we somehow recreated the movie with Steve having to come and save me.”
“This show is super physical. I’m stupidly brave, so I assume I can do things when that’s not always true. I’ve learned to do everything that way: horse riding and skiing. I’m like, “Oh, I figured it out.” I had done gymnastics, so I tried incorporating some of that.”
“I had no idea how much I would need Pilates for this job. You physically have to be strong. I need the muscle from that to do some of the work. In my free time, you know, I took some boxing classes. I took a parkour class; the other students were 14.”
“So, it was just little 14-year-old boys and me, and I was weirdly trying to show off by dismounting on gymnastics bars and stuff, trying to look cool to my 14-year-old friends”.
“Howey’s already a fighter, so he had this skill set. He learns fight choreography like a Lady Gaga dancer, which I didn’t have. Knowing that you have to stay physically strong is so crucial for this. It was mostly about maintaining muscle and being ready for whatever I had to do, like being physically able to accomplish it.”
“I love being my healthiest ever for this job, staying strong, and not being waify. I need to be strong for this. That’s how the job gets done.”
Omar shared how much he had portraying Gib, especially since Tom Arnold, who played him in the movie, also guest-starred in the series.
“We had a great time. We had the Gib squared moment, and we spent a lot of time on the episode together. The interaction between the characters is pretty consistent, and he’s one of our favorite guest stars. The best advice that he gave me was to have fun with it because that’s what he did. “
“I remember being a teenager and coming out of the movie theater, just like Matt said, with my mind blown. I was like, “Wow, this is wild.” If you grew up in that period, it was a particular time for action movies.”
“He was an excellent actor. Man, he would turn it on. One of the things in the trailer was an improv of his. He was completely prepared, constantly professional, and ready to go. He was game for whatever, and I had a great time with him.”
Ginger shared how compartmentalizing helped with the show and their everyday lives.
“Well, the whole work-home life balance is actually on our show. That’s where I compartmentalize the most. It’s a bizarre thing to be an actor. I look at this panel right now, and I look at Annabella and Lucas, and my mind is still tricked. “
“I think they’re my children. I’m protective of them on set and all these things, and then I go home, take away that imaginary, and put everything away.”
Steve added the challenges of being a dad to twins with balancing a career.
“Well, you must compartmentalize, especially if you have a family. My kids were in LA, and I was in Atlanta. We were in Atlanta for five months. So, that was tough. But Daddy had to be an action star. So that was the priority.”
“I saw the pilot with my son, with my 13-year-old, and he was very complimentary, but he said, “You’re a good dad on the show.”
“And he goes, “Yeah, you know, it’s probably because of us that you’re so natural at being a good dad.”
“I think Matt said there’s not a lot of shows like ours with comedy, action, and drama. And that we had to compartmentalize because finding a moment of sincerity and then still trying to hit the joke in the same period and then having a stunt sequence is not easy. It’s not easy work, but it was fun.”
Annabella and Lucas shared their experiences working with Steve and Ginger and what they learned from them.
“It is mind-blowing. I feel like Ginger plays my mom, and then off-screen, when I’m moving, she’s like, “Come stay at my house.” It’s a lot of industry things, acting, and with Steve too. He’s been doing this for so long, the technical things I haven’t had or had the opportunity to work on previously. It’s great to watch them work.”
“At times, they don’t even have to say anything. It’s like watching their comedic timing is enough.”.
I also had the opportunity to be behind the camera and observe some directors. Watching everything they’re doing on the screen and how it plays is exceptional. I have learned quite a bit and am grateful.”
“Working with Steve off-screen, he would give me a lot of acting advice. Whenever I’m around Ginger, I can feel the mom energy radiating off her. She lifts the mood.”
“As Annabella said, with the comedy and improv with the two of them, I have to say it is legitimately hard to stay in character while they’re improving. They’re so funny. And honestly, I wasted a lot of takes by laughing at their improv.”
Steve discussed transitioning from “Shameless” to “True Lies.”
“It was a leap. I told Ginger the great thing about us, and Harry and Helen are that we get to exchange the responsibility of being the straight man, straight woman, straight actor. It’s like, so you have the person who’s going to set up the joke for the other actor, and she and I went back and forth with that, and I thought that was special.”
“But, you know, Omar brought it up to me at the pilot, and he goes, “You ready? You ready to be number one?”
“Omar has been doing this for 20-plus years, and he was a great support system for being number one and responsible. I wanted to take care of the cast, and I was lucky they cast amazing actors and amazing people. And I think the latter first.”
“We all hung out afterward. Omar brought me dinner one time. He knew I had a tough day and brought me some food. I went out with Mike. We’ve hung out with Ginger. And then, we laugh, and we play, and then we work hard.”
“But it helped that we had this synergy among us because those difficult days of working all day, beating our bodies up, and coming to work the next day was a lot easier because of our support.”
They ended the press panel with Ginger sharing some final remarks.
“Well, I’m sorry we didn’t hear from Mike and Erica, so I want to sing their praises and say we’re lucky to have them as Luther and Maria. They both have such strong comedy backgrounds, and I hope you enjoy their dynamic on the show.”
“I always feel like it sounds so fake when you’re like, “The cast loves each other, and they get along, and it’s the best,” because I think that’s what the networks want you to say, but we are. We got so lucky with this show, with everyone having the same true north, that we wanted everyone to shine.”
“We knew how multitalented everyone was. We had Annabella shadowing directors. I know how much talent and intelligence are involved in this show and cast. Everyone was very protective of each other, and we wanted everyone to shine.”
“I’ve never been on a show where I cry three times a week from laughter. Sometimes I’d just be looking at Annabella in a scene, or we’d have a guest star do something ridiculous. I went very rogue on this show, and they let me, and I get to do things, and I’m just giggling that they let me get away with an improv.”
“I hope our joy and fun translates to audiences and viewers for this show because we’re just so blessed with so much talent, and we did there was so much fun.
So, I hope people watch this show, and it’s not only necessarily like a break, but I hope it’s fun and exciting for them.”
True Lies premieres on Wednesday, March 1 at 10/9c on CBS and will stream on Paramount+ the next day.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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