Patrick Schwarzenegger, the hard-working nepobaby who found his place in ‘The White Lotus’

Not all children of celebrities start their careers at the top. Just take a look at Patrick Schwarzenegger’s résumé. His first on-screen appearance was nearly 20 years ago in the role of “Sports Kid Number 3.” You’d have to dig deep into the credits of the comedy The Benchwarmers to realize that this kid was the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger: bodybuilder, actor, former California governor, and global star.

But Patrick has never tried to hide it — and still doesn’t. He’s not ashamed of his name; after all, it’s not one you can easily overlook. Yet his goal isn’t to escape it, but to work hard enough to prove he’s more Patrick than just Schwarzenegger.

The Californian is at a pivotal moment in his career — where audiences are beginning to recognize his face and, perhaps, even learn to spell his impossibly long Austrian surname. For years, the third of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s four children has been working to carve out a place for himself in Hollywood. By far, he’s the one in the family who has pursued acting the most — and the one seeing the most success.

With his towering 6’1” frame and a genetic jackpot that blends weightlifting prowess with Kennedy lineage (his mother’s side), Patrick first dabbled in modeling while taking on small acting roles and appearing in music videos. But he quickly realized the fashion world wasn’t for him. “I should maybe not say that. It’s not in my passion,” he admitted to Variety a few years ago.

More than his looks, it’s his persistence — taking classes, going to auditions, and preparing for roles as rigorously as any other actor — that has finally landed him the opportunity he’s been waiting for. Patrick is starring in the highly anticipated third season of The White Lotus (Max), a dark comedy about insufferable rich people that has a proven track record of turning its cast into household names.

Schwarzenegger admits he’s on cloud nine. At The White Lotus world premiere in Los Angeles in mid-February, he was beaming — smiling nonstop, wrapping his arm around his fiancée, model Abby Champion, exchanging kisses, and enjoying the company of his many invited friends. His father, Arnold, proudly posed with him on the red carpet. His sister, Katherine, and her husband, actor Chris Pratt, were also in attendance. Katherine was carrying what looked like a mini fridge — she has mentioned in the past that she pumps milk to breastfeed her youngest child, born in November. Even so, they made sure to be there. His mother, Maria Shriver, also showed up in a chic white suit and sneakers, bringing plates of Thai food to her children.

Landing a role in The White Lotus is no easy feat — thousands audition, including plenty of big-name actors. When Schwarzenegger first got the call to submit a tape, he didn’t hesitate. He immediately recorded himself and sent it off, not wanting to lose a second. He kept it a secret from nearly everyone, only telling his fiancée. “I didn’t tell anybody,” he told People, explaining that he didn’t even have a full script to prepare — just a handful of scenes describing his character, Saxon, an entitled daddy’s boy with a perfect smile.

After months of anxious waiting, when he finally got the news that the role was his, he broke down in tears. “It was the greatest day in history for me,” he recalled. Only then did he share the news with his family, even filming their emotional reactions.

Two major “yeses” came almost back-to-back. The first, in December 2023, was from Champion—she said yes to marrying him. They’ve been together since 2015, shortly after his breakup with Miley Cyrus. It’s been 15 months since the proposal — a long engagement by American standards — but he insists there’s no rush. “We’ve been together 10 years, so it’s like we’re basically married,” he joked in an interview with InStyle. “We’re better as humans together than we would be apart. We bring out the best in each other.”

Just days later, the second yes came from The White Lotus creator, Mike White. With a seven-month shoot in Thailand ahead, wedding plans had to be put on hold. Filming was intense — so much so that Schwarzenegger even worked with a coach to refine his slight Southern accent.

“I tried to make him as ludicrous and out-there as possible,” said Schwarzenegger. He says he fully embraced the character — a carefree prankster so over-the-top that, according to White, he was almost not meant to feel real. He fit so seamlessly into the role, just like the rest of his eccentric on-screen family, that they ended up spending nearly all their free time together off set as well.

This could be Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough role — the one that shifts his career after years of supporting parts, though he has been circling Hollywood’s orbit for over five years. His first major recognition came with the 2019 indie thriller Daniel Isn’t Real, where he stood out with his dark eyeliner and skinny jeans. The mystery-legal miniseries The Staircase (Max), alongside Toni Collette and Colin Firth, further boosted his profile; it also introduced him to Parker Posey, who now plays his mother in The White Lotus. Joining The Boys universe through its spinoff Gen V opened more doors, but none as grand as the golden gates of the Thai luxury resort.

Cinema is in Schwarzenegger’s DNA — after all, he grew up on film sets. “I was super young,” he recalled in an interview with Variety, referring to Arnold’s role in Batman & Robin (1997), when he was just three or four years old. “But I have these brief memories of my dad going in and becoming Mr. Freeze. And him going in as dad and coming out as this big, blue, bald guy. I have photos of me with him and my mom, and I’m, like, creepily staring at him, like I’m scared and I don’t know who he is. I think I was scared of him.”

The Schwarzenegger-Shriver bond is unusually close and intimate, especially for a family of such fame and wealth. Shriver is a Kennedy, the daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and niece of the late president John F. Kennedy.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver were married in 1986 but separated in the summer of 2011 — just months after Arnold publicly acknowledged having a 13-year-old son, Joseph, with a former household employee. The couple finalized their divorce in 2021. Still, they occasionally appear together in public, mostly to support their children.

“They both bring a unique set of values and perspectives and life experiences that have impacted me, and in a very unique way,” Schwarzenegger told InStyle about his parents. They’ve given him the freedom to pursue acting, continuing the family’s tradition in entertainment — but carving his own path rather than following directly in their footsteps.

In fact, the actor has said that, during the pandemic, he tried to focus less on what people might think or expect of him and decided to prioritize bigger, high quality projects. “I don’t care if it’s a leading role, I just want to continue to build my résumé. I really want to try to convert the perception of people that are in the film industry that I’m a serious actor,” he said.

Schwarzenegger is aware that his last name might lead to accusations of nepotism, but he has come to the conclusion that opinions will always be there, and he cannot change them. “It’s just a bottomless hole of trying to fill that void. But we have one life, and it’s such a waste of time to try to convince or impress people.”

He is more concerned about his mental health, for example, than social media, and he admits that they’ve tried to convince him to post content at certain times, but he isn’t interested. “Social media is a trap. I won’t fall for that,” he told Variety. “You start letting other people’s voices influence how you’re going to live your life and what kind of person you’re going to be. It’s a terrible thing and spiral to go down.”

Schwarzenegger’s life is much more than just his social media presence, even though he could easily capitalize on it. He remains focused on his work and his family life. He sees his mother “four or five days” a week, and they have even co-founded a nutritional supplements company, MOSH, which stands for Maria Owings Shriver Health.

The actor admits that he has no intention of becoming a bodybuilder, but he might want to follow in his father’s footsteps. “My dad was like, ‘You can go to film school and business school, there’s no reason you can’t do both.' I’m similar to him, where I just need to be constantly stimulated by work. I would go crazy if I was only acting and waiting for the next project.”

That’s why, for example, he doesn’t rule out entering politics, something he says he loves: “I would never say no to anything.”

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