True Lies Cast: Where The Actors Are Now

To say that "True Lies" is one of the best '90s action movies is high praise, given how many all-time classics of the genre were released that decade. Even so, it slightly underperformed at the box office upon release and tends to be lost in the shuffle when discussing the work of both director James Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger. But it didn't take long for "True Lies" to become a cult classic, and it has since rightfully earned its place among the best works of not only the two aforementioned figures but also just about everyone in its cast.

Speaking of that cast, they've all had a lot going on in the 30+ years since the release of "True Lies." For some, the movie came as their career was on the ascendant. Others were already certified industry vets by the time they appeared in the action-comedy. And for a couple of them, it would be their last, if not only, major acting role. Either way, here is what all of the major cast members (and the more noteworthy of the side characters) have been up to since the release of "True Lies."

While government agent Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is something of a one-man army on the field, he relies heavily on the assistance of his two main sidekicks, as it were. One of them, Faisil, initially comes across as someone who is best suited to be on a computer and away from danger — but he steps up when it's needed and even gets his hands dirty by offing several terrorist henchmen during the movie's big climactic showdown.

Faisil is played by actor Grant Heslov, who also appeared in "The Scorpion King," "Enemy of the State," "Congo," and "The Birdcage." In addition to acting, Heslov is also a frequent behind-the-scenes collaborator with George Clooney, with the pair having co-written and/or produced over a dozen movies together. Through those collaborations, Heslov has two screenwriting Oscar nominations, as well as two best picture nominations as producer — sharing a win for "Argo" with both Clooney and Ben Affleck. 

The way that mild-mannered wife and mother Helen Tasker (Jamie Lee Curtis) gets attracted to men who lead double lives as spies is, ironically, not via her husband, who actually lives a double life as a spy. Instead, it's through a sleazy car salesman named Simon, who is only pretending to be a dangerous secret agent at night just to get into her pants. When her husband Harry finds out and puts Simon through his paces, Simon very quickly folds under the pressure and literally wets himself in the process. Bill Paxton pulls from his history of playing both legitimately suave ladies' men and conniving weasels to play Simon as nobody else could have. 

"True Lies" fell during an especially impressive run for the actor that also included hits like "Apollo 13," "Twister," "Tombstone," and re-teaming with James Cameron for none other than "Titanic." He also had several noteworthy television projects, starring on HBO's "Big Love" and the acclaimed miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys." Paxton had been going strong since the early '80s and stayed busy into the late-2010s, right up until his death in 2017 from complications to repair a heart issue he'd had since childhood. 

The main event that initially puts the plot of "True Lies" in order occurs at an art party in Switzerland. Harry and company infiltrate the shindig in order to gather intel about the criminals behind the event, including main host Jamal Khaled. Of course, Khaled didn't come to be a billionaire through legitimate business moves, and he is, in fact, an arms dealer who works closely with powerful terrorist Salim Abu Aziz. Khaled doesn't take an especially active role in the events of "True Lies" beyond that, but he remains crucial to the foundation the entire plot is built upon.

Khaled is played by Marshall Manesh, in what would be his first role in an English-language film as well as one of his first credits period. Manesh has since added over 100 credits to his impressive filmography, including the movies "The Big Lebowski," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," and "Year One," and recurring roles on the shows "How I Met Your Mother" and "Will & Grace." 

Juno Skinner is an attendee at the aforementioned party of bad guys. More specifically, she's the art dealer that Harry has to pretend to want to buy art from in order to gather intel on both her and her entire organization. It's discovered that she's been using art to smuggle nuclear weapons. Juno later takes Harry's wife hostage for a time, and during Harry's attempt to rescue Helen, Juno is killed.

Fresh off her second outing as Cassandra in the "Wayne's World" movie series, actor Tia Carrere showed she could play villains as well as love interests when she took on the role of Juno in "True Lies." She also voiced Nani in "Lilo & Stitch," reprising the role for all of the animated sequels as well as the TV series. For the 2025 live-action "Lilo & Stitch" movie, Carrere played Mrs. Kekoa. Between 1999 and 2002, Carrere did her best Lara Croft impression as the lead in the syndicated adventure series "Relic Hunter." In addition to often playing characters that sing, Carrere herself is an accomplished musician who has won two Grammy awards for best Hawaiian music album.

Full disclosure — this character is barely in the movie. Generally, we wouldn't include someone only credited as "custodian" in a list like this. But in this case, we have a very good reason for doing so. The man seen cleaning up the high rise in "True Lies" is played by John Bruno, in what is actually his sole screen credit. At least, his sole screen credit as an actor. But Bruno's overall filmography is as long as it is impressive when considering all the other jobs he does on film and TV show productions.

As a visual effects artist, Bruno not only worked on "True Lies" but was called on by James Cameron for "The Abyss," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," "Titanic," and the "Avatar" series. Bruno also did effects work on "Ghostbusters," "Batman Returns," "X-Men: The Last Stand," and "Alien vs. Predator." Before getting into live-action movies, Bruno was a layout artist and storyboard director in animation, having worked on "Scooby-Doo," "Heathcliff," "Super Friends," and "Heavy Metal." On top of all that, Bruno also directed the 1999 sci-fi movie "Virus" and several episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager."

In the midst of Harry's double life that Helen is slowly discovering, there is also a third member of the Tasker family in the mix. Initially, Dana's role is to be disappointed in the increasing neglect of her parents, who are trying but ultimately failing to still be present for her as they are off dealing with spy stuff. But one of the reasons for Harry wanting to keep his spy life a secret from his family is that them knowing about it — and his enemies knowing about them — would inevitably put them in danger. And sure enough, the bad guys kidnap Dana in order to get to Harry.

It shouldn't be hard to figure out why Dana looks so familiar. Though "True Lies" was the first big role for Eliza Dushku, the actor's breakout character was Faith Lehane in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel." Dushku was also a lead in the shows "Tru Calling" and "Dollhouse," as well as voicing Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk on the 2013 animated series "Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H." Dushku wasn't all-in on the small screen after "True Lies," however, as she also starred in "Bring It On," "Soul Survivors," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," and "Wrong Turn." 

The other point man for Harry, both on the field and within the offices of Omega Sector, is Albert "Gib" Gibson. Something of the token wisecracking best friend, Gib also tends to play the role of Harry's voice of reason, trying to talk him out of taking unnecessary risks. He also tries to get Harry to do a better job of balancing his career and his family, doing his best to cover and make excuses for Harry whenever possible.

Actor and comedian Tom Arnold doesn't have the most impressive acting career overall, but his performance in "True Lies" proves that he has the chops when he's given the chance to show it. The 2005 indie dramedy "Happy Endings" was also a nice showcase for Arnold's talents, as was his stint on the FX series "Sons of Anarchy." Arnold would later guest star as a CIA agent in Schwarzenegger's underrated Netflix series "FUBAR," leading some to wonder whether the show is a sequel to "True Lies." Officially, it isn't, though Schwarzenegger has likened it to something of a spiritual successor.

Yusif is one of the henchmen for Crimson Jihad, the terrorist organization that serves as the main villain of "True Lies." An imposing physical presence who is equally adept with his fists as he is with firearms, Yusif holds his own even against a tough guy like Harry Tasker. But it is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, after all, so Yusif does eventually have his clock thoroughly cleaned by Harry — only to be shot to death by his own boss while being used as a human shield by Harry.

Primarily a professional bodybuilder, Yusif portrayer Ofer Samra had his screen debut in "True Lies" before going on to an acting career that barely lasted a decade. He would play tough-guy characters in movies like "Batman Forever" and "Envy," as well as performing stunts for "Three Kings," before leaving Hollywood behind in 2005. His Instagram account suggests that he currently works as a personal trainer and nutritionist. 

Now that we've gotten all the henchmen and lower-level leadership of Crimson Jihad out of the way, we get to the true big bad of "True Lies." Salim Abu Aziz very quickly sees through Harry's attempts to infiltrate his organization, and soon makes it his mission to take Harry down. And once he learns of Helen and Dana, Aziz fights dirty by using Harry's family against him. He ultimately gets his in the end, but not before he proves a brutal and unrelenting foe.

Actor Art Malik was already well versed in playing a villain to a formidable hero before taking on the role of Aziz in "True Lies." He previously played Kamran Shah, one of the main bad guys in the 007 movie "The Living Daylights." Beyond action movies, the versatile Malik has appeared in a variety of genres, including "Booty Call," "A Kid in King Arthur's Court," "Sex and the City 2," "John Carter," and 2023's "The Little Mermaid." He was also a recurring character in the TV series "Homeland." 

One of the things you forgot happened in "True Lies" is that the movie presents its own Nick Fury-esque character in Spencer Trilby. Not only is he Harry's boss, but Trilby also has an eye patch, seems to have been around the universe of the movie for a while, and only appears in a single scene. Back before he was constantly bashing superhero movies' takeover of Hollywood, James Cameron was a proud comic book fan who was trying to get in on the superhero movie game back in the '90s. So it's entirely possible that the similarities between Spencer Trilby and Nick Fury weren't coincidental.

Spencer Trilby is played by none other than legendary movie star Charlton Heston at a point in his career where cameos were pretty much all he was doing acting-wise. Of course, his place in the Hollywood pantheon was already cemented thanks to "Ben-Hur," "The Ten Commandments," "The Greatest Show on Earth," and "Touch of Evil," to name a few. His appearance in "True Lies" came a few years before he became president of the NRA, after which point his activism for the organization dominated his public persona for the remainder of his life. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 84.

Helen Tasker was feeling trapped in a what she thought was a marriage to a boring man. Little did she know that she couldn't have been more wrong. Eventually, Helen and Harry were a full-on, world-saving, terrorism-fighting duo. But that didn't happen until the memorable scene in which Harry tricks Helen into seducing an unseen criminal who is actually Harry. And, yes, the extremely talented Jamie Lee Curtis actually danced in the movie as Helen, demonstrating her gift for both seductive movements and physical comedy. 

Curtis began her acting career in the '70s as a slasher movie scream queen, effortlessly moving from one genre to the next over a movie career that has spanned six decades. In the 2010s, she started to do more television in addition to her busy big screen work, culminating in her Emmy-winning performance in FX's "The Bear." In addition to being the daughter of Hollywood legends Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, Jamie Lee is also married to actor and filmmaker Christopher Guest, most famous for directing acclaimed mockumentaries "Best in Show," "Waiting for Guffman," and "A Mighty Wind." 

Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron owe one another their respective careers. Though Schwarzenegger had starred in and Cameron had directed movies previously, their teaming for "The Terminator" definitely brought each of them to the next level of stardom. They'd subsequently work together on "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" and, of course, "True Lies." They'd later reteam for 2019's "Terminator: Dark Fate," a box office disappointment but nonetheless hailed as the best "Terminator" movie since their last one together.

When ranking every Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, "True Lies" does well for itself, as do his other Cameron-directed efforts. The former bodybuilder has starred in a list of action classics that few other actors have ever or will ever get close to, including "Total Recall," "Predator," "The Running Man," and "Conan the Barbarian." And that's to say nothing of his successful detours into comedy with the likes of "Kindergarten Cop," "Twins," et al. Between 2003 and 2011, Schwarzenegger served as the governor of California, earning the nickname "The Governator."