Barbaro calls it “quite a complicated relationship” as Emma fights to be anything but her dad, “but then realises the harder we fight to not be our parents, the more we become them.”
Against the serious work and dysfunctional family dynamics, an eclectic crew of CIA colleagues provides comic relief, cracking jokes on Emma’s “daddy issues,” Luke’s mispronunciations and his desire to win back the wife he lost to divorce years ago.
Comedian Fortune Feimster, who plays a character named Roo, disrupts the CIA mission meetings with what she calls “something ridiculous” to bring levity.
Travis Van Winkle plays her partner Aldon and revels in the juxtaposition of “trying to save the world from extinction and these lighthearted lines.”
And then there is Barry, played by Milan Carter, a nerdy analyst who is also Luke’s handler and part of his family, and who knew about Emma’s line of work but kept it from Luke.
“On any given day, I might be scared of Arnold, but when I get to play Barry, it’s no holds barred, and I get to hold him accountable,” said Carter. “It’s a dream.”
For the younger cast members who grew up watching Schwarzenegger in Terminator films or Kindergarten Cop, they praise what the famous actor and former bodybuilder brings to set, namely discipline, teamwork, motivation and a mischievous side.
“He’s just mechanical with his schedule. He goes to bed at 12, after he studies all his lines, wakes up at 6 every day,” said Gabriel Luna, who plays archvillain Boro, adding “He always says: ‘People say you have to sleep eight hours. To those people I say sleep faster’.”
