Ginger Gonzaga’s Character Can Handle The Truth as She Braces For a Wild Ride in TRUE LIES

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Love is blind, as the old saying goes. And sometimes it’s willingly, purposely, determinedly blind, according to Ginger Gonzaga. As one of the stars of the new series TRUE LIES – which is based on the movie of the same name, and debuts Wednesday, March 1 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app – Gonzaga knows there’s a certain gullibility factor with regard to her character, Helen Tasker. As viewers meet Helen, she has absolutely no idea that her longtime husband Harry, played by Steve Howey, is actually an international spy who regularly goes on dangerous missions. “I’ve been defending her!” said Gonzaga of Helen. “I like defending her, you know, showing the humour of being gullible. It’s almost like maybe loving someone so much that you’re kind of checking out. You’re just looking the other way.” But that never happens in real life, does it? Gonzaga immediately caught the sarcasm of the question. “Oh no, not at all!” she replied with a laugh. “It’s so human. I really want to protect Helen, and not make her seem like the dumbest person on the planet. She’s more like, ‘I love my husband … I’m sure everything is fine!’ But also, it’s not as if she was ever going to assume that her husband is a spy! And when you’re busy yourself, how conscious are you of certain things? She’s a mom. She’s raising children. She’s worried about whatever hijinks they’re getting into. She’s wondering if her kids are sneaking out of school, rather than, ‘oh, is my husband a spy?’ ” Helen’s initial lack of awareness notwithstanding, Harry is, in fact, a spy, rather than a computer consultant. And once Helen finally discovers the truth – through circumstances that not even Helen can ignore – it doesn’t take long before she becomes a spy, too, and quickly begins to showcase her own unique skills. The 1994 James Cameron movie True Lies, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, and is available for streaming on STARZ, seems conceptually ready-made for an energetic TV series. So in some ways it’s hard to believe that it has taken so many years to materialize. “Well, I think they tried for a really long time,” said Gonzaga, whose lengthy resume includes SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW, CHAMPIONS, KIDDING, and HBO’s TOGETHERNESS (available on Crave). “We still have James Cameron attached to our show (as an executive producer), and McG’s company. But I think once (creator) Matt Nix wrote his version of it, that’s when everyone was like, ‘yes, yes, yes.’ I actually worked with Matt Nix 13 years ago – he gave me my first guest-star appearance, on a show called THE GOOD GUYS, which was an action comedy. So this is a fun full-circle moment. He’s tried and true, he’s so kind, he has been around forever, and so I just think he was probably the right person to get this pushed toward a green light.” There’s a lot of physicality for the role of Helen in TRUE LIES, and Gonzaga comes from a gymnastics background, which definitely helps. But Helen wouldn’t necessarily know some of the athletic specifics of what might be required in her new vocation, so Gonzaga is incorporating that into her portrayal as well. “Helen’s learning a little bit, you know?” Gonzaga said. “She’s talented, but they’re just now unleashing her. So that has been really fun for me, to learn some new skill sets, and also brush up on gymnastics and put that in there. I’ve been stretching so much for the show, and the thought finally came to me that every human being is supposed to be doing this every day. I think we’re all supposed to be stretching for an hour a day, I really do. Otherwise, I would probably end up shrinking even smaller by a certain age. So this is forcing me to be very healthy.” In other words, Ginger Gonzaga’s advice for anyone looking to be healthier is … “Get an action show!” she said. “Come on!” Talk about TRUE LIES! billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv