Arnold Schwarzenegger talks Netflix ‘Fubar’ stunts, Stallone rivalry
Written by on May 26, 2023
Movie action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t retire. Instead, he just reloaded on Netflix.
The onetime box-office titan stars in “Fubar,” his first TV series. In the eight-part action comedy from Nick Santora (now streaming), Schwarzenegger plays retiring CIA agent Luke Brunner, who’s forced back to the blow-up biz after discovering his daughter (Monica Barbaro) is also a secret agent.
He shows some vintage moves. Brunner is endearingly described as the fastest 65-year-old on the planet after dispatching foes in one skirmish, a description that still makes Schwarzenegger proud.
“I’m sold as a 65-year-old, but I’m 75,” he says proudly. “I feel I’m in a very good place.”
Here’s how Schwarzenegger, who was given the tongue-in-cheek title of Netflix’s chief action officer this week, is still wreaking havoc.
Schwarzenegger was too cool for TV in the ’80s
The seven-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilder kicked off his acting career with TV appearances, including an early role alongside Lucille Ball in the 1974 TV movie “Happy Anniversary and Goodbye.” But he moved to big-screen domination with 1982’s “Conan the Barbarian” and, of course, 1984’s “The Terminator.”
“In the 80s, it was not cool to do the TV series; it was about being a movie star,” says Schwarzenegger. “Times have changed. Now everyone wants to do a TV show and movies at the same time.”
The “True Lies” premise ― Brunner’s personal life falls apart because of his secret profession ― allows Schwarzenegger to lean into the comedy. And he has “Fubar” action support, surrounded by a cast that includes “Top Gun: Maverick” star Barbaro, 32, who battles alongside her screen dad.
“From our first Zoom meeting, Monica said that she wants to really get into it, and learn everything about shooting, guns and action, all that stuff,” says Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger on stunts: ‘Age definitely makes a difference’
Schwarzenegger is still riding his bike and working out daily. “The body benefits from that, your fitness benefits,” he says.
So do his action skills. He can cut up some baddies with a knife and throw punches in “Fubar.”
“It’s all about reps,” Schwarzenegger says of the stunts. “It’s rehearsing, rehearsing and more rehearsing. Nothing has changed. It’s just harder to do some of those things than it was 40 years ago. You might be more sore the next day. Age definitely makes a difference.”
Stunt injuries were more “forgivable when I was young,” says Schwarzenegger, who severely injured his knee shooting “Conan” and had his arm stitched up while making 1990’s “Total Recall” when his hand went through glass during a subway chase. “I’ve broken my fingers on stunts. But we worked around the injuries,” says Schwarzenegger. “That’s tougher to do when you get older.”
So in many scenes, the septuagenarian actor stepped aside and let a stuntman take the fall.
“If I feel like something could really injure me, which would be a holdup to the show, then we stay away from it,” says Schwarzenegger. “Other things I don’t stay away from. I’ve always been a good judge of that.”
Schwarzenegger discusses Sylvester Stallone rivalry in ‘Arnold’
Schwarzenegger delves into his larger-than-life story in the three-part Netflix documentary series “Arnold” (streaming June 7), in which he talks frankly about his postwar Austrian childhood, his box-office superstardom and his political life as a two-term Republican governor of California.
Both Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone discuss their intense rivalry in their golden years. “We couldn’t even stand to be in the same room,” Stallone says in the documentary.
Schwarzenegger believes the escalating battle pushed him to greater heights. “There was a competition. It always is a form of motivation for me, and I know he felt pretty much the same way.”
But the battle eventually died out, and the two friends collaborated on projects like the “Expendables” franchise. “You get older, reach a certain age and say, ‘OK, we’ve done that. Now maybe we should try a different approach. Let’s work together,'” says Schwarzenegger. “It has been a much more pleasant approach.”
Schwarzenegger’s mini-horse and donkey are house-roaming social media stars
Schwarzenegger’s menagerie ― three dogs, a donkey named Lulu and Whiskey, a miniature horse ― became pandemic internet sensations wandering around his Los Angeles home. A new pig, Nelly, has joined the crew. “Nelly is hilarious,” says Schwarzenegger. “All the animals are welcome in the house. Lulu and Whiskey roam the house because animals always search for food. So it’s natural that they roam the kitchen and the living room and even the gym as I work out.”
Don’t worry: The animals are house-trained.
“We’re lucky enough that we have the doors open all the time in the summer,” says Schwarzenegger. “And they go out in the grass and do their thing there. We’ve never had a house incident.”
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