FUBAR has proven to be a hit for Netflix — just look at the trending movies and shows and it hasn’t budged from the top 10 since it dropped last month. The action-comedy centers on the complicated relationship between CIA agent Luke Brunner (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro) — but it’s the strength of its hilarious and charming ensemble cast (and villain) that makes it a joy to watch. To talk to the cast, making the show may have been even more fun than cozying up and marathoning it.
“I’m always having fun,” Gabriel Luna,, who plays the series’ big bad Bolo, confesses to PRIDE. “I mean that’s kind of my number one rule. If you’re not having fun, then you’re in the wrong place in the wrong business. Oddly enough, I bring my guitar with me all the time. So I’m always kind of playing music for the crew to keep loose and kind of riveted to the feelings I’m having.”
Courtesy of Netflix
Luna stuck to that ethos even if it meant crashing other stars’ sets. “Usually when they’re dealing with [Bolo] they’re very serious. They’re all very stern. But I would just go to random stages when somebody’s working just to go watch some of the other stuff just because you get lonely on your villainous track and everybody else is having fun together,” he confesses.
Having fun together didn’t just mean sing-alongs (songs by KISS were a favorite on set, says Luna) but also bonding over games. “The vibe was cool,” recalls Luna. “Milan [Carter] loves to play games, he’s a heavy gamer. So me and him got on like gangbusters, he’ll bring his Switch or he’ll bring Taboo or Scattergories or some kind of board game and we’re just all playing you know, kind of in between setups. So there’s all that and then there’s Arnold, there’s Arnold who is incredible and funny and you always love to bask in that.”
Carter wasn’t only playing games with Luna; the self-identified Blerd (black nerd) also challenged his co-star to a game of chess. “That’s actually how I bonded with Arnold,” Carter tells PRIDE. “One day I burst into his trailer because all he kept talking about was how good he was at chess. And I don’t think Arnold likes to lose in public. So I’ve beat him in private and celebrated in public,” he laughs.
Courtesy of Netflix
It’s a perfect bit of casting as, like Carter, his role of Barry is a big geek who is frequently shamed by his fictional co-workers for his nerdy interests, but he has no shame in his geek game. “One of my first big geek moments was in fifth grade, I won a math tournament and it was called Challenge 24. And I’ve traveled all around the state playing people in this game where you had to figure out how four numbers can get to 24. And I loved it and I lived that,” he recalls. “So you got chess, you got math, and I also love anime. I’m up to 1,060 episodes in One Piece, I am severely addicted to all anime.”
While all of Barry’s colleagues give him a hard time, Roo, played by Fortune Feimster, leads the pact. The out comic has an impressive comedy resume, but FUBAR marks the first time she’s gotten to test out her action chops, and now she’s ready to enter her new lesbian action hero era. “I am ready to be an action star,” Feimster tells PRIDE. “An action lesbian star. I mean lesbians should be action stars. Come on. We’re very athletic. We’re problem solvers. We drive Subarus!”
Courtesy of Netflix
The experience is one that Feimster had been craving. “That honestly was what drew me to the project, that’s why I wanted to do it. I’ve never been given that opportunity before. I knew I could do it but I didn’t think that the industry saw me in that light. So to me, it was such a cool thing to get to jump into,” she shares. “The more I got to do action, the more I wanted to do action. The fact that I got to do it with Arnold is like, well, this is the action star, it doesn’t get much more iconic than him when it comes to action.”
And she’s not done: Feimster says she’s ready for more action roles and challenges to come her way. “I love it and I’m really campaigning now to be an action star. A lesbian action star,” she reiterates.
Femister isn’t the only one breaking the mold in their role. Travis Van Winkle, who plays the team’s resident honeypot, is ready to embrace his title of himbo — but with one caveat. “The only place where I’ve got a little bit of a hiccup [is that himbos aren’t smart] because Aldon is incredibly intelligent,” Van Winkle tells PRIDE. “I think he leads on in the beginning like he might just be your average himbo. But as you get to know him, he’s not.” That being said, Van Winkle understands the appeal of being a himbo, and is ready to be embraced by himbo lovers everywhere. “If I could be a himbo but with an asterisk next to it because I’m intelligent, I’ll join that community any day,” he declares.
Courtesy of Netflix
Like the cast themselves, the show is full of light and silliness in a way that just makes you want to spend time with them. Thankfully, all of season one of FUBAR is available to stream now on Netflix.
