Arnold Schwarzenegger had quite the reaction when he saw his son, Patrick Schwarzenegger, bare it all in a scene from The White Lotus Season 3. In a father-son sit-down for Variety’s Actors on Actors 2025 edition, the legendary action star recalled his initial shock watching Patrick’s now-infamous nude scene.
“I couldn’t believe. I said to myself, ‘I’m watching your show, and I’m watching your butt sticking out there.’ And all of a sudden, I see the weenie. What is going on here? This is crazy,” Arnold said with a laugh.
“Then I said to myself, ‘Well, Arnold, hello. You did the same thing in Conan and Terminator, so don’t complain about it’. But it was a shock to me that you were following my footsteps so closely,” he added.
The elder Schwarzenegger was referring to a scene from The Terminator, James Cameron’s 1984 film which featured Arnold in a full-frontal nude scene that has since become iconic.
Patrick, for his part, acknowledged the comparison with good humour. “Oh, yeah. I guess the similarity from Terminator to White Lotus was that you were working on a project with James Cameron, who is one of the greatest directors of all time. For me, it was a blessing to work with the writer, the director, the creator of White Lotus. Because Mike does everything.”
Patrick began his Hollywood journey with films like Stuck in Love, Grown Ups 2, and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. After landing his first leading role in 2018’s Midnight Sun, he gained recognition, but it was The White Lotus that became his true breakout moment.