TV & Movies
White Lotus Star Patrick Schwarzenegger Reacts To Nepo Baby Rumors
The actor said he didn’t get cast on the show because of his famous father.
Patrick Schwarzenegger wants to clarify that nepotism didn’t get him to Thailand for The White Lotus. In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the actor reacted to the notion that he landed his role on Season 3 of the HBO series due to his nepo baby status, as the son of legendary actor and former California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
During the interview, Patrick, 31, got ahead of rumors. “I know there are people who'll say I only got this role because of who my dad is,” he said. “They’re not seeing that I’ve had 10 years of acting classes, put on [high] school plays every week, worked on my characters for hours on end, or the hundreds of rejected auditions I’ve been on.”
It doesn’t help that Patrick’s character is somewhat a nepo baby himself. He plays Saxon Ratliff, who travels to the White Lotus resort in Thailand with his wealthy family, including his Southern belle mother Victoria (Parker Posey) and business scion father Timothy (Jason Issacs). When they’re not on vacation, Saxon works with his father, and struggles to unplug like him.
Patrick is also the son of famous journalist and Kennedy relative Maria Shriver, giving him another claim to fame. He admitted that living with his last name can get “frustrating” as he navigates the acting world.
“You can get boxed in, and you think at that moment, ‘I wish I didn’t have my last name,’” he said. “But that’s a small moment. I would never trade my life with anyone. I’m very fortunate to have the life and family that I have, the parents I have, and the lessons and values they’ve instilled in me.”
Patrick’s Family’s White Lotus Fandom
Watching the first two seasons of The White Lotus had become a family pastime for Patrick, as he told Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month. “Every time we would watch the episodes, my mom would be like, ‘Why aren't you on the show?’” he recalled. “And my sister's like, ‘You need to fire your agents. Why are you not on this show?’ And I was just, like, ‘Hopefully, one day.’”
When he got an audition for Season 3, he never told them, and still kept them in the dark after he got cast. However, when his family suspected he was keeping a secret on vacation and speculated that his fianceé Abby Champion was pregnant, he finally told them he had landed a dream role. “There was just this domino effect of us all crying... at a restaurant,” he recalled.
