Patrick Schwarzenegger is addressing speculation that his famous parents, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, by some means helped him land a task in season 3 of The White Lotus.
“I do know there are individuals who’ll say I only got this role due to who my dad is,” Patrick, 31, told The Sunday Times in a profile published on Sunday, February 23. “They’re not seeing that I’ve had 10 years of acting classes, placed on [high] school plays every week, worked on my characters for hours on end or the a whole lot of rejected auditions I’ve been on.”
He added, “In fact, it’s frustrating and you’ll be able to get boxed in and you think that at that moment, I wish I didn’t have my last name. But, that’s a small moment. I might never trade my life with anyone. I’m very fortunate to have the life and family that I actually have, the parents I actually have and the teachings and values they’ve instilled in me.”
Exes Arnold, 77, and Shriver, 69, were married from 1986 to 2011, during which they welcomed children Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher. (Arnold also shares son Joseph Baena with Mildred “Patty” Baena, whom he secretly welcomed during his marriage to Shriver.)
Despite Arnold and Shriver’s divorce, their family stays close.
“I hang with my family on a regular basis,” Patrick told The Times. “I live inside just a few minutes of my dad.”
Actually, Arnold, Shriver and most of Patrick’s siblings supported him on the official White Lotus premiere earlier this month. Patrick plays Saxton within the Thailand-set season 3 of the HBO anthology series created by Mike White.
“I assumed, ‘There’s no way I’m going to get this, everybody is up for this.’ I’ve been an enormous fan of the show since day one,” Patrick recalled. “It was my dream goal, I feel I manifested it.”
Patrick learned that he scored the role lower than one week after he proposed to longtime love Abby Champion.
“I used to be like, ‘Eek, sorry, I’m gonna be gone the following seven months, so we’re going to must push the marriage to next yr,’” Patrick jokingly recalled to the British newspaper.
Ahead of filming White Lotus, Patrick also overhauled his fitness routine — often hitting the gym with dad Arnold — to get in shape to play Saxton.
“Me and my dad train together when we are able to,” the actor added in Sundayy’s profile. “We were each filming in Toronto recently, staying at the identical hotel and worked out together each day. People [who] don’t like me on social media will say, ‘Why aren’t you bodybuilding?’ People at all times want you to do something else, but he’s undoubtedly been an influence in my life.”
Patrick previously praised his family’s impact on him in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly last yr.
“Family continues to be super necessary, whilst we become old,” Patrick told Us in September 2024. “It’s nice as we usher in latest people, whether it’s my fiancée, or Katherine along with her husband, [Chris Pratt], or so on and so forth. We at all times produce other guests that come to the dinner.”
In line with Patrick, his mother hosts weekly meals for his or her entire brood.
“It’s sort of an open invite for friends to come back, family to come back, and it’s just a pleasant strategy to get everyone together,” he added on the time. “The world is at all times moving so fast. Everyone seems to be so busy with kids and with work and traveling that it’s a pleasant moment throughout the week to cool down and have everyone be together.”
