Yahoo Lifestyle Patrick Schwarzenegger Gets Candid About Nepotism and His Famous Parents
Patrick Schwarzenegger has big shoes to fill—his father Arnold Schwarzenegger is a massive movie star and the former governor of California while his mother, Maria Shriver, is a respected journalist and a scion of one of the country’s most prominent political families, the Kennedys.
Still, the 31-year old actor is forging his path forward, and in his latest turn, is one of the stars of the latest season of the hit HBO series The White Lotus.
In a wide-ranging conversation with InStyle, Schwarzenegger spoke candidly about his close-knit family, revealing that he sees his mother “five or six days a week,” and touching on how his father inspired him to be a multi-hyphenate, though not in the same way as his parents, explaining that he doesn’t have “aspirations to be a bodybuilder.”
“To me, they’re just my parents,” Schwarzenegger said. “They both bring a unique set of values and perspectives and life experiences that have impacted me, and in a very unique way.”
The actor continued, explaining that they taught him “to always find ways to give back and help others” while “working hard and having dreams and goals and finding ways to go after those.”
In addition to his work as an actor, Schwarzenegger co-founded the brain nutrition brand MOSH with Shriver, and is an investor in both the plant-based meat company Nuggs and electrolyte brand Liquid I.V.
“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,” he shared.
As for moving through the world as a “nepo baby,” Schwarzenegger doesn’t let the negative connotations of being born into a family with Hollywood connections and political influence get to him.
“A couple years ago, I came to the conclusion that people are going to have their opinions of me no matter what. They’re going to say ‘nepotism’ or that I only got a role because of my dad. Or, they’re gonna say, ‘Why doesn’t he lift weights?’ 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 said.
