Travis Van Winkle has the kind of energy that makes you wonder if he’s been mainlining espresso or just life itself. In FUBAR, Netflix’s action-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first-ever TV series, Van Winkle plays Aldon—code name “Pooh Bear”—a field agent with a gift for chaos, a knack for survival, and apparently, as he says, “really, really good at intercourse.”
When I bring that up, he laughs. “I told the showrunner, Nick Santora, that I wanted everyone to know that I was good at intercourse,” he says, grinning. “So he put it in there.”
That’s the thing about FUBAR: it’s both an explosive spy show and a broad, ridiculous family sitcom in body armor. “We’re this big dysfunctional family trying to save the world,” Van Winkle says. “The dynamics are absurd, but they’re heartfelt too. It’s ridiculous, but you care.”
Arnold plays the patriarch—literally, a CIA agent whose daughter (Monica Barbaro) discovers he’s been lying about his day job. The rest of the team is an oddball ensemble of wisecrackers and killers, including Van Winkle’s Aldon and Fortune Feimster’s Roo. Their chemistry crackles, half buddy-cop and half office rom-com. “That dynamic really sold me,” he says. “He’s smart, he’s Savvy, but he’s got his demons. There’s a slow drip of who this guy really is. I love when people say, ‘Oh, I thought you were this, and then you got me.’ That’s the fun of it.”
Still, it’s hard to ignore that the man’s working next to the Arnold Schwarzenegger. “He’s the Paragon of self-belief,” Van Winkle says, suddenly earnest. “He manifests everything he wants. He’s not just an actor—he’s excellence personified. I’d be in the gym listening to his audiobook before filming, just trying to understand the man. He’s the reason the Hummer exists! He literally called Dick Cheney and got it built for him.”
Off-camera, Arnold’s exactly what you hope for. “He’s mischievous, playful, easygoing,” Van Winkle says. “He jokes around a lot. And one day, he pulled me aside and said, ‘You’re ripped.’ That was it. I blacked out. I don’t remember the rest of the day. Arnold Schwarzenegger told me I was ripped—that’s like Willie Nelson telling you you’re good at smoking weed.”
The physical prep was no joke either. “No one’s done it better than him,” Van Winkle says. “I worked harder than I ever have. Sure, I wanted Arnold’s approval, but it also fit the character. He’s agile, sharp. And if you’re standing next to the most famous bodybuilder in the world, you better bring your A-game.”
Beyond the explosions and spy banter, FUBAR sneaks in an unexpected dose of soul. That comes naturally for Van Winkle, whose life outside acting is stacked with service work: ten years as a global ambassador for buildOn, an organization that builds schools in developing countries, plus volunteer work with Big Brothers Big Sisters. “It started when I was really down,” he says. “A mentor told me, ‘Be of service.’ I started volunteering in L.A., and opportunities just kept showing up. Then a friend asked if I wanted to build a school. You go live with a community for two weeks, eat with them, build alongside them—it’s soul deposits. It breaks you open.”
He laughs when I call him humble. “Service can be selfless and self-serving,” he says. “It’s both. You help others, but it heals you too. And it’s generational change—you see adults learning to write their names for the first time. That stays with you.”
He just turned 40—an event celebrated in a Senegalese village where locals threw him a traditional wrestling ceremony. “I told them I wanted to wrestle,” he says. “They brought in a guy from Dakar, 300 people showed up. There’s dancing, drumming, you pour water on yourself—it’s like if NSYNC and the UFC had a baby. Best birthday ever.”
He laughs again when I tell him my own 40th involved someone bringing me a plant. “There’s always 43,” he shoots back.
Van Winkle’s exuberance carries right back into FUBAR, which is loaded with wild cameos—Tom Arnold, Scott Thompson, half the cast of The Mindy Project. “Arnold loves comedy,” he says. “He’s always been great at it. So this show really reflects him—action, heart, and humor.”
The music’s killer too. “Every song was written into the script,” Van Winkle says. “Nick Santora fought for every one of them. We even came in under budget.” The opening needle drop—The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil”—sets the tone: stylish mayhem.
As for his personal “action theme”? “Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You,’” he says, completely serious. “It gets my heart open. But also Pearl Jam’s ‘Not for You.’” He lifts his arm to reveal the band’s stickman tattoo. “I was front row in Atlanta, 2002. Changed my life.”
That tracks. He even sings Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” in FUBAR—something he’d never done before. “I didn’t know who he was!” he admits. “But I fell in love with that song. Singing it with Fortune Feimster was one of my favorite moments.”
And yes, he knows he’s not a natural singer. “I’m okay making a fool of myself,” he shrugs. “If I train hard, I’ll do it. That’s the through-line for me: go all in, whatever it is. Acting, service, singing badly—it’s all the same muscle.”
Watch the interview above and then check out the trailer below.
