Patrick Schwarzenegger may appear like the type of man who’s had life served to him on a silver platter — in spite of everything, Schwarzenegger and Kennedy blood are working by means of his veins, with doorways flying open left and proper — however based on him, it isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. The actor insists his life hasn’t been as easy as folks assume, and he is uninterested in being judged solely for his privileged upbringing.

These days, although, issues are wanting up for him — or no less than, he is landed what might be his greatest profession breakthrough but: a job in HBO’s “The White Lotus.” And earlier than anybody rolls their eyes, he swears it wasn’t handed to him. In reality, he was so uncertain about his probabilities that he stored the entire audition course of a secret from his household, regardless of them being those to encourage him to do it. “I did not inform anyone as a result of I used to be like, ‘No matter, everybody’s going to exit for this present. I’ve such a sliver of an opportunity to get a name again,'” he informed Individuals, including that he discovered himself in a lot misery. “I couldn’t benefit from the holidays. I had a lot nervousness, I used to be freaking out over it.” And when he lastly obtained a name that he obtained the half, it was just about all waterworks. “I began crying, and it was the best day in historical past for me,” he revealed.

However getting thus far hasn’t been all easy crusing. Whereas his life could seem excellent from the skin wanting in, he is had his justifiable share of struggles — no less than, by Hollywood royalty requirements. Here is a take a look at a few of them.

Patrick Schwarzenegger is the textbook definition of a nepo child — twice over at that. Not solely is he the son of motion star-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, however his mom, Maria Shriver, comes straight from the Kennedy dynasty, making him Hollywood and political royalty. With that type of pedigree, it is no shock that he is been hit with nepotism accusations left, proper, and heart, with loads assuming he is using the household connections straight to Hollywood success.

However Patrick is aware of what persons are saying — however he is determined to not waste his power preventing it. In an interview with InStyle, he admitted that the “nepo child” label will at all times dangle over his head, however he is accomplished making an attempt to alter minds. “Individuals are going to have their opinions of me it doesn’t matter what. They will say ‘nepotism’ or that I solely obtained a job due to my dad. … It is only a bottomless gap of making an attempt to fill that void. However now we have one life and it is such a waste of time to attempt to persuade or impress folks,” he stated.

As an alternative, the “Midnight Solar” star insists he is out to show he is greater than only a well-known final identify, even when which means turning down initiatives that would have simply padded his appearing repertoire. “I began saying ‘no’ to a majority of initiatives, and was making an attempt to essentially suppose long run,” he added. “I need to deal with actually top quality initiatives… with wonderful writers or administrators or showrunners or unimaginable actors. I do not care if it is a main position, I simply need to proceed to construct my résumé. I actually need to attempt to convert the notion of individuals which can be within the movie business that I am a critical actor.”

Patrick Schwarzenegger could have mastered methods to tune out the haters, however having been born into Hollywood royalty and American political royalty as he has means he is continuously battling to show he is greater than only a nepo child with a well-known final identify. “Coming from my household is a double-edged sword. It may be extremely inspirational nevertheless it additionally places on lots of strain,” he informed Glamour UK (through The Tribune). “I used to be desperately making an attempt to show that I am not simply so-and-so’s child and that I used to be making my very own path.”

Decided to be greater than only a Kennedy-Schwarzenegger hybrid, Patrick swears he is been constructing his profession from scratch — even turning down the nepotism increase his dad tried to present him. However apparently, having a final identify that opens doorways can even imply barely anybody takes you critically. “The very first thing folks say to me once we meet is, ‘You are wealthy, your dad is rich, you haven’t any work ethic.’ That is onerous to listen to as a result of it isn’t true — I’ve to simply dwell with that assumption,” he stated.

And whereas loads of Hollywood legacies do not hesitate to trip the household coattails, Patrick swears he is by no means taken the straightforward route. “I’ve by no means labored with my dad on a movie. I’ve by no means been on any of his initiatives, although he has tried to seek out methods of doing it. I don’t need to really feel like it’s a cop out, that he simply obtained me a job as a result of I’m his son,” he dished to Flaunt. “Out of the hundreds of auditions I’ve been on, I’ve been rejected 99.9 p.c of the time. That’s simply what occurs.”

Like father, like son — proper all the way down to the ski wipeouts. Identical to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Schwarzenegger has a factor for hitting the slopes, however his enthusiasm fairly actually landed him on his butt in 2012. The then-teenager obtained right into a ski accident that left him banged up, tweeting, “Little ski accident immediately. Some bruises and stitches down again and however [sic]. Due to solar valley medical doctors for all the things” (through CBS Information). Sound acquainted? That is as a result of his dad had a really related mishap six years earlier, breaking his leg in a ski accident — additionally at Solar Valley.

The complete extent of Patrick’s accidents wasn’t clear on the time, however in 2020, he revealed that he needed to undergo a significant shoulder surgical procedure, probably because of the accident. “I attempted to do bodily remedy for a yr, after which I obtained PRP pictures and I obtained stem cell pictures and I attempted bodily remedy once more. Nothing was exhibiting up on the MRI. Lastly the physician determined to go and do a scope, and he mainly discovered my complete shoulder was fully tousled and needed to do a giant surgical procedure,” he informed GQ. “I used to be out for eight months. It was fairly s****y. Between that and rolling proper into COVID, I did completely nothing for a number of months and simply ate and obtained kinda out of practice.”

The entire ordeal took longer than he anticipated, however Patrick, ever the optimist, handled it as a private problem. “It is at all times enjoyable to show to your self that you would be able to go from doing completely nothing to getting again to the place you wanna be,” he added. “It simply takes a protracted frickin’ time.”

It is easy to imagine Patrick Schwarzenegger is tight together with his dad — in spite of everything, he is by no means even thought of ditching the well-known final identify, regardless of the luggage that comes with it. However again in 2011, he did drop it for a quick second, and never only for enjoyable.

That yr, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s notorious dishonest scandal rocked the household, revealing he had an affair with the housekeeper that resulted in a toddler out of wedlock. Patrick did not go on a public rant, however he made his emotions fairly clear by briefly altering his identify on X, previously Twitter, to Patrick Shriver. If that wasn’t sufficient of an announcement, he additionally tweeted, “I really like my household until loss of life do us half,” together with lyrics by rapper Fort Minor that learn: “Some days you’re feeling like s**t, some days you need to stop and simply be regular for a bit, but i like my household until loss of life do us aside,” based on SFist.

No matter frustration he had on the time appears to have handed, although, as a result of as of late, father and son are again to being thick as thieves. Arnold himself confirmed as a lot in a GQ Germany interview, saying that they are now as stable as ever. “We have now an incredible father-son relationship, and we even have an incredible friendship,” he stated. “My imaginative and prescient was to create nice children. What I am pleased with is that I might type of present him the way in which, and he knew that he had all the assistance on the planet from me on a regular basis, however that he needed to do the work additionally.”

Being born into the limelight comes with its justifiable share of drama, and Patrick Schwarzenegger has had his moments. In 2015, TMZ reported that he was concerned in a automobile chase that escalated to the opposite driver crashing into his automobile earlier than authorities needed to step in. Thankfully, nobody obtained damage, and it would not appear like he confronted any costs, however nonetheless, it wasn’t an incredible search for him.

Later that yr, Patrick made headlines once more — this time for supposedly dishonest on then-girlfriend Miley Cyrus whereas partying in Mexico. Paparazzi caught him getting cozy with one other girl, setting off rumors that he was having an affair. However Patrick was fast to close it down, claiming in a sequence of tweets, “Would NEVER do something towards my GF,” he wrote. “Women have man buddies and guys have buddies which can be ladies.” The connection did not final for much longer after that, although, so make of that what you’ll.

Regardless of the occasional controversy, Patrick insists he is stayed on the straight and slender — no less than in comparison with different Hollywood offspring. “I do not need to paint my household too fairly … however I do know, with out stepping into names, loads of folks which can be my dad and mom’ buddies’ children within the business which have gone down the opposite manner and obtained caught up within the drug and alcohol area and the celebration scene. I believe it was simply that I could not even think about doing one thing and disappointing my dad and mother,” he informed Interview Journal. “We had been additionally within the public eye somewhat bit otherwise as a result of my dad was governor throughout my teenage years, in order that was one other heightened consciousness. However yeah, I believe it was the factor of household and people values.”