“True Lies” truly brings action-adventure fun

There’s a type of story that movies savor and TV rarely tries.
It’s high-octane action-adventure, sometimes with comedy tossed in. It might have James Bond or Charlie’s angels or the bad boys or the folks from “Ocean’s 11” or “Fast and Furious” films.
“It’s mainly a movie genre,” said Matt Nix. But now he’s adapted the 1994 “True Lies” movie into a series (shown here) that airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS, starting March 1.
The movie had Arnold Schwarzenegger as a daring spy who kept convincing his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) that he was a nerdy computer salesman. “It was a giant action film,” Nix said, “but it was also a character piece …. It didn’t take itself too seriously, but at the same time, it had real warmth.”
Some of that — warmth, character, humor – is easy to do on a TV budget. But “giant action film” isn’t.
“We did discover there’s kind of a reason people haven’t done it” much on TV, Nix said.
This TV series goes for movie-style action, he said. “I love spectacle …. We did the biggest car flip I’ve ever done – and I’ve done a lot of car flips. We blew up a lot of buildings and yes, we dangled Helen from a helicopter.”
Helen is the spy’s wife. Unlike the movie version, she quickly learns about her husband’s secret life … and becomes a spy herself. This is fresh territory for her — and for Ginger Gonzaga, who plays her.
“I’m stupidly brave,” Gonzaga said, “so I kind of just assume I can do things.”
Actors have to do thartwhen TV tries movie-sized stunts. That brought some problems, including:
— Steve Howey, who stars as the husband, was doing stunts while sick. “When he had 103 fever, it (was) the episode where he needed to pick me up multiple times,” Gonzaga said.
— She also had troubles. At one point, Howey said, she “lost her voice. She was mouthing the words.”
— He hurt his back in one scene and hurt a finger in another. “I threw (a) stunt double against the wall, and it snapped my finger back …. I’m really hoping, next season, to use my stunt double a lot.”
Howey is familiar with physical moves, in fact and fiction. He had a basketball scholarship in junior college and portrayed a high school football star in “Reba.” Alongside lots of comedy (for all 11 seasons, he was the “Shameless” bartender), he’s done action films, including “Supercross.”
But for Gonzaga, this is fresh turf. She’s a comedian and an actor who’s been a regular on comedies, from “Mixology” to “She-Hulk.” Now she was handling a physical role.
“I took a parkour class,” she said, “and the other students were like 14 years old. (I was) like trying to look cool to my 14-year-old friends.”
The action is a key part, Nix said, but so is the humor. “’True Lies’ invites the audience to laugh and have some fun.”
An early episode also addresses the tricky notion of compartmentalizing – in this case, being a top spy one moment and a calm parent the next.
As an actor, “you have to compartmentalize,” Howey said, “especially if you have a family.”
For five months, he was in Atlanta filming the “True Lies” season, while his three children (with ex-wife Sarah Shahi) were in California.
“I saw the pilot with my 13-year-old and … he said, ‘You’re a good dad on the show.’
“And he goes, ‘It’s probably because of us that you’re so natural at being a good dad.’
“And I was like, ‘You’re right. Absolutely right.’”