Patrick Schwarzenegger tells dad Arnold he ‘hated’ when he became California governor

Patrick Schwarzenegger has admitted that he and his siblings “hated” when their father, Arnold, gave up his movie career to become the Governor of California.

The 31-year-old White Lotus actor was nine years old when the Terminator star announced his candidacy for the 2003 California recall election during an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The elder Schwarzenegger held the office from 2003 until 2011.

Patrick is one of Arnold’s four children with ex-wife Maria Shriver, along with older siblings Katherine and Christina and younger brother Christopher. The actor also shares a child with his former housekeeper, Mildred Baena.

During a conversation between father and son for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Arnold recalled missing out on several film roles because of his decision to run for political office, which Patrick said the children “hated”.

Arnold said he soon realized they preferred his time in Hollywood, adding: “It was the funniest thing. You coming to me and saying, ‘Dad, we had so much fun going to the set and watching you blow things up. And now …’”

“We go to the Capitol,” concluded Patrick, before Arnold recalled: “All of you were rebelling.”

Patrick went on to explain that he told his White Lotus co-star Aimee Lou Wood he first became interested in acting while visiting his father’s film sets.

“It was heaven for a kid, going to a movie set with your dad,” said Patrick. “You would pick me up and take me out of school early in your Hummer.

“You’d come pick me up early and you’d walk in as Dad, go into the trailer, come out as Mr. Freeze or the Terminator. We would be in the trailer, and during your breaks, we could walk into craft services, get some Red Vines, and we would take the golf cart and go to the E.T. ride.”

Patrick added that he believes it’s only natural that he wanted to follow his father into the same line of work. “We talked about this idea of nepotism, but when you grow up and your parents do a specific job, it makes sense that you go and work in that world,” said the younger Schwarzenegger.

Earlier this year, Patrick denied he landed his role in The White Lotus because of his father.

“I know there are people who’ll say I only got this role because of who my dad is,” he told The Sunday Times.

“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.”