He Has a Very Laid-Back Approach -

Monica Barbaro has had the privilege of working with some remarkable co-stars throughout her career. Most recently, she was tasked with embodying the great Joan Baez in James Mangold‘s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown alongside Timothy Chalamet, though she’s also taken flight with Tom Cruise in 2022’s smash hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick. However, perhaps the big name that she’s spent the most time alongside is ’80s action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays her father in the action comedy series FUBAR on Netflix. With all three, she experienced different approaches to filming on set that challenged and inspired her own performances, though there was something in particular she appreciated about working with “The Governator.”

Ahead of A Complete Unknown‘s release in theaters, Barbaro sat down for an episode of Collider Ladies Night with Perri Nemiroff for a wide-ranging discussion about her career and the hotly-anticipated new film. At one point, she was asked about the actors who came to the set with the most similar and contrasting mindsets to hers, which got her on the subject of Schwarzenegger and Cruise. Both are hard-working favorites of the action genre, yet the projects they’ve worked on and how they approach them are very different. Cruise has a reputation for doing his own stunts and, as Barbaro confirmed, has a remarkable work ethic, committed to ensuring both he and his co-stars can give their best performances possible. While Schwarzenegger is no less driven, she says he’s also more “laid-back,” at least when it comes to his humorous spy show.

Barbaro described the Terminator star’s management of work on FUBAR as “healthy,” keeping things as streamlined as can be while they work and generally limiting how much he does on set so he can wear more hats in the production and work beyond it. Even in comparison to how enjoyable it was to collaborate with Cruise, she found Schwarzenegger to be a rewarding screen partner with a distinct style, as she explained:

“Then, in a very different way, but also a really inspiring way, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays my father on this show that I’m on, and he’s also an incredibly hard worker, but he has a very laid-back approach about a lot of things. He doesn’t ask a lot of questions. He sort of tailors the information he needs. Sometimes I feel like I ask too much, I let too much in, and he establishes a boundary with the work that I think is really healthy and allows him to do all kinds of work in other fields, as well. So, they’re not direct opposites, but I think that was just really interesting in that pocket of a couple of years of working with the two of them just how completely different your approach can be, and you can still be like a ‘90s action star.”

Barbaro and Schwarzenegger Will Join Forces Once Again in ‘FUBAR’ Season 2

Netflix’s dynamic duo of Luke (Schwarzenegger) and Emma Brunner (Barbaro) will be back in action sooner rather than later, as filming got underway on Season 2 back in May. Season 1 proved to be a smash hit on the streaming platform, debuting last year atop the Netflix Top 10 and even dethroning Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Created by Nick Santora, it follows the father-daughter pair as CIA operatives who are completely unaware of the other’s occupation until a mission brings them together. They suddenly realize they’ve been living a lie for years and barely even know each other, a fact that ultimately becomes a problem when the agency makes them partners. Although Luke is about to retire, he’s thrust into a massive final job with Emma to stop an arms dealer that should go off without a hitch, assuming he can stop babying his daughter.

The Season 1 finale laid plenty of groundwork for a pulse-pounding return whenever work is finished. Luke and Emma’s identities were compromised, placing a massive target on their backs from terrorists and other criminals around the globe. On top of everything, Aparna Brielle‘s Tina was revealed to be a Russian double agent working within the CIA. It all means Luke won’t be able to retire just yet, though, at the very least, he and his daughter have become closer than ever. Season 2 will work with a bolstered cast, as The Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss joins a group that will also see Milan Carter, Fortune Feimster, Travis Van Winkle, Fabiana Udenio, Jay Baruchel, Barbara Eve Harris, and Andy Buckley return.

FUBAR Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Season 2 as work continues. And don’t miss Barbaro’s full episode of Collider Ladies Night.