Patrick Schwarzenegger related to struggle of 'living in father's shadows'
Patrick Schwarzenegger - whose dad is Arnold Schwarzenegger - related to his 'White Lotus' character's struggle of "living in [his] father's shadows".
Patrick Schwarzenegger related to his 'White Lotus' character's struggle of "living in [his] father's shadows".
The 31-year-old actor - who is the son of 'Terminator' legend Arnold Schwarzenegger and his ex-wife Maria Shriver - plays Saxon Ratliff, the eldest offspring of a rich businessman, in the latest season of the satire and he admitted there were some "similarities and crossovers" between his own background and experiences, and those of his alter ego.
He told Vanity Fair magazine: "I think there are similarities and crossovers there, except this family is so far away from what my family was growing up—or probably any normal family is.
"But whenever I read a script or a character, I always try to think about the where, when, and why about the character, and what his relationship is to different individuals, and the background and the backstory that he's from.
"You try to think of different similarities or differences that you have in your own personal life: things you can draw on and through to bring elements of this character to life.
"There was a storyline that I related to, and resonated with, of living in the father's shadows. This character had a very successful family, a very successful father. He worked under his father; he was always trying to make a name for himself, make a path for himself, was constantly vying for his dad's attention and acceptance and approval.
"I wouldn't say they're directly the same as mine, but there are definitely elements of it that I could draw upon."
During filming in Thailand, Patrick grew incredibly close to Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey, who played his parents, and on-screen siblings Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola.
He said: "Right away when we all got booked, we started doing Zooms together. We would just be talking and creating this backstory of the family.
"And then when we got actually out to set, we did everything together. We got breakfast together, lunch together; we would be in the villa together. We'd watch movies, we'd do all these things together.
"And week three, Mike [White, showrunner] was like, 'Hey, you want to go out for dinner tonight?'
"And I was like, 'Oh, I'm actually getting dinner with my family.' And he was like, 'What the f***'s wrong with you guys? You don't need to hang out every single day!' "
