When you ask Arnold Schwarzenegger if he felt like a dad to his FUBAR castmates off-screen, the Terminator is at a loss for words. “People come to the set and say, ‘Oh Daddy, oh Pops.’ I mean, I don’t know how to take that,” he tells Tudum.
But the sentiment is sincere among the cast of Nick Santora’s action-comedy series FUBAR, which sees Schwarzenegger star as Luke Brunner, an actual father to his daughter (and spy) Emma (Monica Barbaro) and also a father figure to his fellow agents — not to mention, to Emma’s boyfriend Carter (Jay Baruchel) and somewhat adoptive son turned arms dealer Boro (Gabriel Luna). “We both are somewhat Arnold’s children,” says Luna. Adds Baruchel, “Surrogate sons,” if you will.
But the bulk of Luke’s paternal instincts are reserved for Emma. The two struggle to really see each other as they are for the first time –– once they learn they are both working for the CIA. And that playful push-pull still hasn’t changed by the time Schwarzenegger and Barbaro sit down for a chat with Tudum, with their father-daughter banter on full display in real life as well.
Arnold, your character is like a dad to everyone in the show, supporting and encouraging them. Did you feel like their father figure off-screen too?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Well, I don’t know what to say. People come to the set and say, “Oh Daddy, oh Pops.” I mean, I don’t know how to take that, because I see that I could be her father, when in reality, age-wise, I could actually be your grandfather.
Monica Barbaro: My mom’s only a year younger than you.
Schwarzenegger: Is that right?
Barbaro: Yeah.
Schwarzenegger: There you have it.
Barbaro: Anytime there’s a lead of a show and he’s playing a father, of course you can fall into that role. A nice, refreshing thing about working with Arnold was that he really was a scene partner and a fellow actor, and there was a lot of equality on our set. He’s also an executive producer of the show, [but] it never felt like he was the boss. Or maybe I just am too disrespectful to have acknowledged that you were my boss, which I’m now realizing I probably should have earlier. But no, he never asserted authority or took advantage. He showed up prepared and on time and had a very relaxed way of being about this production. We did feel like a big family by the end.
Schwarzenegger: I totally understand that I’ve been around for many decades in the movie business. It was clear that some of the people want to know a little bit about the profession in general that maybe have not been in the profession for too long. They want to know what it’s like to build your career, what it was like to work with various different actors that I’ve worked with in the past. So they ask a lot of questions and they look at you maybe like a mentor. I was honored to share information and to also have a lot of fun with them, as intense and grueling as it was sometimes, with the night shooting and the stunts. Like when Monica crawled out of the intestines of the cow [in Episode 1], her whole body was full of blood and very sticky and it was ice cold outside…
Barbaro: It was a fake cow, for the record.
Schwarzenegger: Huh?
Barbaro: I’m a vegetarian, so that was important to me to interrupt what you were saying. Continue, sorry.
Schwarzenegger: No, but if you want to go and say it was a fake cow, I’ll go along with you. But it was a real cow.
Barbaro: It felt like rubber inside. You didn’t climb inside it.
Schwarzenegger: But they gutted it out, of course it’s going to feel like rubber. That’s what steaks feel like when I’m through with them in the barbecue, they feel like rubber.
Barbaro: You’re not a very good cook.
Schwarzenegger: I’m a very good cook. I make good steaks, by the way. The seasoning is perfect, the marinating is perfect, and when I put them on the grill, they’re yummy. Everyone says so.
Barbaro: You grill veggies too?
Schwarzenegger: Of course.
Did you have any favorite moments together on set?
Schwarzenegger: My favorite moment was repeated again today. Monica brought her dog Augie to set and he fell in love with me, so she got jealous. On the Friday night when she brought him to set, we were night shooting, and I was giving him Wiener schnitzel, special food directly from Austria. The food that she gives him is maybe somewhat boring. I gave him spaetzle too, and now this dog is stuck to me. Even when I go to the set, he’s running after me, not after her, and she says, “What happened?”
Barbaro: Arnold would baby bird, take a bite and give a bite, and take a bite. So it created this relationship that made my dog gain 10 pounds. And today, I stupidly brought him to work with me, thinking it would be fun.
Schwarzenegger: But that was nice.
Barbaro: I know, I thought it would be nice. He came into Arnold’s room, and Arnold again, just croissant from mouth to pup’s mouth. And of course, when we came in here, Augie was like, “Well, where’s the food, bro?”
Schwarzenegger: It was very sweet of the dog, recognizing who really loves him and who gives him food and is always there for him at all times.
Barbaro: It’s a very grandfather-y dynamic, but don’t give my kid that.
What would your code names be if you really were spies?
Barbaro: [To Schwarzenegger] I don’t know if I trust you, what would you call me?
Schwarzenegger: Can you believe that we’ve done a TV show together for almost five months, and then she says to me, “I don’t know if I can trust you?” This is exactly the arguments we had in our TV series.
Barbaro: So what would my code name be? Be nice.
Schwarzenegger: I think it could be Lulu.
Barbaro: You’re naming me after your donkey? That’s actually a huge honor. Thank you. Then you’re Augie.
Schwarzenegger: It’s cute. Yeah, I might be Augie.
Donkeys, dogs, it’s all in the Brunner family.
FUBAR is now streaming.
Additional reporting by Phillipe Thao.
