Patrick Schwarzenegger is one of the breakout stars of The White Lotus Season 3, but he doesn’t want people to think he only got the role because of his famous parents.
Schwarzenegger, who plays privileged Saxton Ratliff in the Mike White-created HBO series, is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver.
“I know there are people who’ll say I only got this role because of who my dad is,” Schwarzenegger told The Sunday Times. “They’re not seeing that I’ve had 10 years of acting classes, put on school plays every week, worked on my characters for hours on end or the hundreds of rejected auditions I’ve been on.”
He continued, “Of course, it’s frustrating, and you can get boxed in, and you think at that moment, I wish I didn’t have my last name. But that’s a small moment.”
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Schwarzenegger’s first acting role was in 2006’s The Benchwarmers as “Jock Kid Game #3.” He would go on to appear in 2012’a Stuck in Love (2012), 2013’s Grown Ups 2 as Frat Boy, and 2015’s Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.
Schwarzenegger’s first television role was in 2015 in an episode of Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens. He would go on to appear in 2017’s The Long Road Home, 2022’s The Staircase, 2022’s The Terminal List, and 2023’s Gen V. Schwarzenegger returned to work with Murphy in 2024’s American Sports Story, portraying Tim Tebow.
Although The White Lotus is only two episodes into its third season, Schwarzenegger has already garnered much attention, especially on social media, due to his nude scenes on the HBO drama.
“I didn’t know to what extent [there would be nakedness]. You do the auditions but you don’t see the full script so you don’t have all the details, then they ask you, ‘Are you comfortable with nudity?’ when you sign on,” Schwarzenegger told The Times. “At the end of the day, this character, from start to finish, is ridiculous and the type of person who absolutely would walk around his room naked without a care in the world. He’s the guy who, whenever he sees a girl at the pool, he’s going to flirt with them whether it’s a mom or a 22-year-old.”
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