Steve Howey OF

BY JAY BOBBIN

‘TRUE LIES’ ON CBS AND PARAMOUNT+

In assuming the role played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1994 movie version of “True Lies,” do you have any desire to channel him into your performance?

I said that I would never, out of respect for the man, do the impersonation. I’ve never done it, not once, and I never will. It’s an iconic actor and an iconic man, and it’s an iconic film.

We just wanted to do something on our own, you know? We couldn’t mirror the movie. We didn’t want to do it exactly. We wanted to bring our own flair, and I think we did.

Because of the nature of the show that it is, “True Lies” involves a lot of different aspects. How has it been for you to play all of that?

This action/drama/comedy, the elements that we were doing, all the cast dreamt about doing something like this ... so while we were doing it, it was like, “We’re doing it. This is amazing.”

But it’s so much work. I don’t even know how to say it, but we were supporting each other, and it was fun. We had laughs and tears and broken bones, all of the above.

How did you deal with all of that during those long work days?

Well, I think you have to compartmentalize, especially if you have a family. My kids were in L.A. and I was in Atlanta. We were in Atlanta for five months, so that was tough – but, you know, Daddy had to be an action star. So that was the priority.

Actually, I saw the pilot with my son, and he was very complimentar y. He said, “You’re a good dad on the show.” And I said, “Oh, wow. Thanks.” And he goes, “Yeah, 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.”

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