As it celebrates its 30th anniversary, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind True Lies…
The world was James Cameron’s oyster in the early 90s with the back-to-back successes of Aliens, The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. But the talented auteur was about to add another laurel to his precious wreath with 1994’s action comedy True Lies. This is that story. Enjoy.
True Lies was based on a French comedy film released a few years prior
True Lies was one of the biggest hits of 1994. Not only did the comedy actioner further cemented James Cameron’s reputation as an action director but also brought some much needed relief for Arnold Schwarzenegger after the box-office debacle that was 1993’s Last Action Hero. However, the idea for the movie didn’t start off as an original script by Cameron but was instead based off on the 1991 French comedy flick La Totale!.
During an interview the filmmaker revealed that the movie was suggested to him by Schwarzenegger himself, who in turn was shown the film by his brother-in-law Robert Shriver. The actor showed a keen interest in the secret agent character featured in La Totale! and this sparked Cameron’s interest who decided to check out the French comedy. After watching the effort Cameron became convinced that this was gonna be his next project. The idea of presenting a family man living out a double life as a secret agent with nearly unlimited professional skill and resources was an interesting premise he didn’t want to pass up on.
Since comedy wasn’t his forte Cameron hired a team of writers to help him come up with the movie’s jokes. But being the fastidious chap he is, Cameron was mostly satisfied with their contributions and fired them all, deciding to have a crack at the script himself. He revamped the script from scratch and retained only two jokes written by the team of writers. One of which being Schwarzenegger’s famous “You’re fired!” line in the film.
Schwarzenegger’s biggest challenge was dancing the tango
Schwarzenegger was well-known for taking his roles seriously, so during the production of True Lies the veteran action star performed most of his stunts apart from his usual acting. But the biggest challenge the performer had had nothing to do with performing an elaborate stunt or being part of a complex action set piece – it concerned dancing a tango with his attractive co-star Jamie Lee Curtis. Now Schwarzenegger wasn’t one to give up easily, so he rehearsed the scene intensely for a good six months since he wanted to ensure that the dance sequence between him and his co-start be as good as the exquisite tango segment featured in Scent of a Woman with Al Pacino. The duo rehearsed the sequence so many times that during a take of the final tango Jamie Lee Curtis’ legs gave out from sheer exhaustion and she struggled to get back up. This small segment was included in the final film by Cameron which didn’t sit well with the actress. However, on hindsight Curtis realized that this was totally something her character Helen would have done in the story.
Schwarzenegger suffered a near fatal accident during the shoot
Schwarzenegger was a man who took pride in his physical prowess as a former Mr. Olympia title holder. As a result the guy had a tendency of performing most of his stunts and pushing himself to insane extremes when he was on set. But the talented performer nearly had his career cut short when he had a near-fatal brush with death while shooting a horse riding scene. His horse suddenly got startled and ran out of control during filming but luckily Schwarzenegger kept his cool and managed to slide off the horse. The problem was he did this move near a precarious 30-foot drop-off and nearly ended up going over the ledge and if not for his stuntman’s vigilance Schwarzenegger would’ve been a goner.
True Lies was the first movie to have a budget of over $100 million
Nowadays pretty much all summer tentpoles in Hollywood boast production budgets that are north of $100 million. But 30 years ago such a concept was simply unheard of and True Lies became the first movie to have a production price tag of over $100 million, thereby making it the most expensive movie at that point in time. The previous film to hold the coveted position of most expensive movie was also one of Cameron’s works – the acclaimed actioner Terminator 2: Judgment Day. One year after the release of True Lies the Kevin Costner headlined post-apocalyptic adventure Waterworld took the crown with its whopping $175 million budget. But that insane budget was due to a series of misfortunes and massive production setbacks during shooting.
James Cameron inked a lucrative deal with 20th Century Fox before production
Lightstorm Entertainment was founded in 1990 by James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. After producing consecutive bona fide hits like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Abyss Cameron and Kasanoff were ready to take Lightstorm Entertainment to the next level with their new project True Lies. The filmmaker was confident his latest venture would be a commercial hit and used it to leverage a lucrative $500 million deal with 20th Century Fox which allowed Cameron full creative control over twelve potential projects. Fox would be in charge of domestic distribution, while Lightstorm would retain overseas distribution. Talk about a sweet deal.
Jamie Lee Curtis got equal billing alongside her famous co-star
Jamie Lee Curtis got her big break with John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher film Halloween. After starring in a series of middling horror flicks the actress switched from the horror genre to comedy with great success. Her scene stealing performances in 1983’s Trading Places and 1988’s A Fish Called Wanda won her much critical acclaim and awards accolades which inevitably thrust her further into the limelight. It was in this context that Cameron, impressed by Curtis’ work on A Fish Called Wanda, was looking to cast Curtis as the female lead on his latest venture.
Schwarzenegger however wasn’t too keen on the idea and required some convincing by Cameron to embrace the suggestion after several unsuccessful casting calls with other actresses. In the end Schwarzenegger caved in to Cameron’s pressure and begrudgingly agreed to have Curtis on board. As production progressed the actor soon realized his mistake and was more than pleased by Curtis’ contribution to the effort. Because of this he even allowed to share top billing with her in the movie’s opening credits and promotional materials. During an interview Curtis revealed, in the world of show business, the credit is “such a coveted, negotiable, commodity” that for Schwarzenegger to give her billing before the title was “a real mensch move on his part.”
The strip scene was extensively rehearsed to be perfect
One of the most memorable sequences to play out in True Lies was the striptease scene featuring the stunning Jamie Lee Curtis front and center. Although it drew criticism for its perceived misogynistic content Curtis had heavy input as to how the whole scene played out. The original idea was to have Curtis’ character Helen Tasker go completely nude, but in the dark so that only silhouette would be visible. Curtis, however, suggested a different approach – to do the scene with adequate lighting while keeping her underwear on. Cameron liked the actresses’ suggestion and decided to tweak the scene accordingly. The star rehearsed the scene extensively with Cameron beforehand and it was during one of these rehearsals that the fall she makes during the middle of the dance was actually conceived. Schwarzenegger was not privy to this particular detail and therefore the startled reaction we see by the actor in the movie was indeed his genuine reaction to what Curtis did.
Tom Arnold auditioned just to meet Schwarzenegger & Cameron
Prior to gaining major recognition for his role on the American sitcom show Roseanne, Tom Arnold’s career was mainly confined to stand-up-comedy and other various odd jobs in the industry. Arnold met comedian Roseanne Barr during one of his comedic acts in 1983 and impressed by Arnold’s routine she later hired him as a writer for her sitcom show Roseanne after which the actor became part of the show’s cast. The pair eventually tied the knot but theirs was a tumultuous affair riddled with controversial public antics and heated dramas.
It was around this time period that Tom Arnold auditioned for a role on True Lies. But the performer’s primary intention of auditioning was to meet Schwarzenegger and Cameron, since he was so sure he wouldn’t land the role. Cameron thought otherwise. The filmmaker saw some genuine chemistry between the two actors and decided to cast him. 20th Century Fox balked at the idea due to Arnold’s not so positive reputation at the time but Cameron stuck to his guns threatening to take the movie elsewhere, and the studio relented. The actor ended up being close lifelong friends with Schwarzenegger and Cameron afterwards.
There was controversy surrounding the production
In January 2018 actress Eliza Dushku who played Dana Tasker in True Lies dropped a bombshell revelation when she revealed that she was sexually molested by the movie’s stunt coordinator Joel Kramer. The performer who was twelve-years old at the time shooting was taking place detailed how Kramer “groomed” her for several months to gain her trust and parents approval before molesting her one evening when they were alone. Dushku elaborated that after an adult friend confronted him on set “accidents” started happening as Kramer was the stunt coordinator and he was responsible for the safety of all actors on set. After her statement, Dushku’s co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold and James Cameron all tweeted their respect and admiration for her bravery. The aftermath of this reveal prompted others who shared similar experiences with Kramer to come forward as well.
Box-office success, award wins & a cancelled sequel
Made on a production budget of $120 million True Lies went on to rake in a sizeable $378.9 million at the worldwide box-office going on to become the third-highest-grossing movie of 1994, behind The Lion King and Forrest Gump. The film proved to be solid hit with film critics as well holding an approval rating of 70% on the reviewer aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, writing, “It’s stuff like that we go to Arnold Schwarzenegger movies for, and True Lies has a lot of it: laugh-out-loud moments when the violence is so cartoonish we don’t take it seriously, and yet are amazed at its inventiveness and audacity.” He wrote that he found the plot “perfunctory” but praised the film’s stunts and special effects. The effort found some unexpected success in the awards circuit as well with Jamie Lee Curtis winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and nabbing multiple nominations for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars and the BAFTAs.
Three years after the movie’s release Schwarzenegger and Arnold met with Cameron to discuss the possibility of a sequel to their hit film but Cameron was too preoccupied with the production of Titanic at the time. After finishing up with the ship-disaster-flick the filmmaker turned his attention to producing the sequel even hiring writer Jeff Eastin to pen a scrip under his watchful eye. Eastin and Cameron worked on the script for over one-and-a-half years and once the script was all ready the unthinkable happened – 9/11. This prompted Cameron to rethink the possibility of a sequel to True Lies since he understood that terrorism is not a concept that could be poked fun at in the current world climate. Several attempts to make the effort reach fruition by cast members didn’t pan out either since Cameron refused to stubbornly budge from his opinion and thus, True Lies 2 never happened.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.