Patrick Schwarzenegger is the ultimate nepo baby! A member of Kennedy family and another political dynasty – he has dated a fair share of A-listers – before landing a role in White Lotus

From Jennifer Coolidge to Aubrey Plaza, dozens of critically-acclaimed stars have signed up to appear in White Lotus,  Mike White’s immensely popular and gloriously glamorous black comedy set in luxury hotels around the world.

Each season sees a group of ultra rich, and deliriously attractive, holidaymakers travel to a different hotel around the world and get wrapped up in a dark and often murderous story.

But the latest cast member to join the cast may be even starrier and glitzy than his TV character.

Patrick Schwarzenegger, 31,  who plays the son of wealthy businessman in the show, is part of three of Hollywood’s most well-connected families.

Patrick, who previously dated Miley Cyrus,  is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver.

This means the former First Son of California is the grandson of Eunice Kennedy – the younger sister of JFK – and Robert Sargent Shriver Jr, the first director of the Peace Corps and a close ally of Lyndon B.Johnson.

Finding his footing in the industry has undoubtedly been made easier by his enviable familial ties – being the son of the legendary Austrian Terminator star – and being the grandnephew of US President John F Kennedy.     

But that’s not to say Patrick hasn’t worked for his success. During the early years of his career, the Gen V star had parts in both TV and film and even dipped his toe into modelling – all while studying for a degree in business which he completed in 2016.

Patrick has appeared in The Terminal List – handily led by his brother-in-law Chris Pratt – The Staircase with Colin Firth as well as Boys spin-off Gen V and Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens.

His latest role in the series White Lotus will have him starring alongside a glittering cast, with the likes of Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood, Walton Goggins, and Leslie Bibb, joining Patrick onscreen.

The series sees holiday makers navigating sex, power, privilege and the occasional murder, all while staying at the fiction hotel chain, White Lotus. The latest installment of the show is set in Thailand, with the previous two having been in Hawaii and Italy.

With a promising career ahead of him, Patrick has even gone on to score a number of brand deals, including with Ketel One and Tanqueray Gin, who are the official spirts partners to the show, and previously campaigns for the likes of Tom Ford and Tommy Hilfiger.

Here, FEMAIL looks at the life of the aspiring actor and his rise to the top as he takes on his ‘dream’ role in the popular series.

Family Connections

As the son of the legendary acting star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 77, and journalist Maria Shriver, 69 – Patrick’s hopes for stardom were never far from reach.

Patrick and his siblings, Katherine, 35, Christina, 33, and Christopher, 27, grew up surrounded by film sets, script manuals and glossy movie premieres.

The actor, who holds dual Austrian-American citizenship from his Austrian father, was raised in Santa Monica, California, alongside his three siblings and parents and has spoken of fond memories of his childhood and credits his father with inspiring his dreams of becoming an actor. 

‘Going to set with my dad, that’s where my first love for acting came from,’ he told People magazine.

‘He would always pull me out of school early. I would get to go to Universal Studios—I’d watch him go in as Dad, come out as Mr. Freeze. I would sit there all day and just be fascinated with everything about film.’ 

Beyond his father, Patrick also boasts blue blood through his connection to the Kennedy family. His mother, Maria, is the daughter of Eunice Kennedy who was John F Kennedy’s sister. 

But his distinguished lineage is not something that Patrick shies away from. 

The actor has previously discussed his struggles ‘trying to make a name’ for himself while ‘living in the shadows’ of his father. 

Speaking to TODAY, he drew similarities between him and his character in the show, Saxon Ratcliff. While said he differed from the ultra fit and wellness inclined elements of Saxon, elsewhere he drew parallels.

‘It’s a character that’s working for his dad, living in his dad’s shadows and trying to make a name for himself,’ he said. ‘So, there were similarities there for myself that I could, you know, draw upon.’

Elsewhere in the actor’s boastful luminary connections, Patrick’s sister, Katherine Schwarzenegger is married to the Hollywood actor, Chris Pratt.

The couple have been together since 2018 and recently announcing the birth of their third child. And Patrick, who appears to share a strong bond to his brother-in-law, appeared alongside him in the 2022 thriller series, The Terminal List.

Being cast in White Lotus came with a mixture of emotions for the rising star. 

Though excited to take on his ‘dream’ role, he was sworn to secrecy and couldn’t tell his family, who he is particularly close to.

And it proved particularly tricky in the face of his affectionately nosy family.

His mother, Maria Shriver, who is a writer for TODAY, told the publication she knew something was going on when she noticed her wasn’t being completely himself at a family gathering.

But Maria wasn’t to be fooled. ‘My mom, my sister, they all know when I’m acting weird,’ he said.

His family had even come up with a theory that he and his beau Abby Champion were pregnant. And after ‘hounding and hounding’, his loved ones finally got the truth just before the cast were officially announced in January last year.

His mother proudly wrote on Instagram: ‘Patrick, Patrick, Patrick! I’m so proud of you!’ she wrote in the post’s caption, adding that ‘The White Lotus’ is one of her ‘favourite shows of all time.’ 

Though his mother had been the one to push him to audition for the role, frequently asking why he hadn’t auditioned to be in the series when they were watching it’s first two instalments. 

Patrick told People that when he finally had the chance to tell his entire family, everyone including his mother, sister and Abby burst into tears of joy. 

When he saw the offer of an audition in his inbox, Patrick said he was ‘ecstatic’ but knew he needed to keep it under wraps until the right moment. 

His father Arnold was equally proud, taking to Instagram last week to tell his followers how ‘pumped’ he was to be celebrating his son’s achievements – even his nude appearance. 

‘What a show! I could claim to be surprised to find out he has a nude scene, but what can I say – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Don’t miss it this Sunday – trust me,’ he said.

Patrick also has a half brother, Joseph Baena, who was controversially fathered by the Terminator star during an affair with Mildred while she was working as a housekeeper for the Schwarzenegger family.

News of the affair were revealed in 2011 and in the same year, Arnold and Maria filed for divorce following 25-years of marriage. 

A Slow Burn in Acting

His casting in White Lotus comes after many years of hard work from the rising star, who he had been consistently taking acting classes for more than a decade before being cast in White Lotus – which he described as ‘a dream come true’.

‘I take classes every week. For me, it’s about continuously finding ways to learn and grow,’ he told PEOPLE magazine. 

The rising star said he ‘always’ knew he was set for a life on screen. Having watched his father dominate Hollywood, Patrick was sufficiently inspired and soon decided he wanted to pursue the career himself. 

At the age of just 10, the star took on a small role in the film, Benchwarmers, and continued to practice acting alongside his father during his adolescence. 

Patrick was so set on the career that he even told his parents at the time that he wanted to skip out on college altogether to find his feet in acting – a conversation that didn’t go down well with his father.

Arnold insisted that Patrick study alongside his acting dream, an instruction that he stuck to. 

In 2021, he matriculated at the University of Southern California before going on to graduate from the USC Marshall School of Business with a minor in Cinematic arts in 2016.

After finishing his studies, Patrick dabbled in acting, taking on various supporting roles including Stuck in Love, Grown Ups 2 and Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.

He took on his first leading role in the 2018 film Midnight Sun starring alongside Bella Thorne.

He was later cast in a cluster of smaller Hollywood productions including Daniel Isn’t Real, Echo Boomers and a coming of age drama, Moxie.

In 2015, he delved into the world of television, taking on roles in Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens and Gen V. He even acted alongside Colin Firth in The Staircase – feats which he completed alongside his degree.

While an exciting step, Patrick said it was one of his most challenging roles, since it was the first time he’d had the chance to ‘sink my teeth into a character’. 

And his career hasn’t only been limited to acting. Between jobs, he has also modelled for a handful of notable campaigns including for Tom Ford and Tommy Hilfiger, where he appeared alongside his fiancée, Abby Champion.

Though he said he would largely be leaving the modelling career up to his beau, saying he often felt ‘uncomfortable’ on shoots and ‘don’t enjoy it’. 

Patrick described his role in White Lotus as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience that felt like a blend of both work and ‘summer camp’. 

In his role as Saxon, an uber buff and wealthy son of the Ratcliff family, Patrick acted alongside Jason Isaacs, Posey, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola, who he said became life ‘family’ to him.

He said while he felt some pressure to live up to the show’s highly acclaimed first two series, he had firm faith in it’s creator, director and showrunner, Mike White, who he said wasn’t afraid to admit when things were going wrong – and who he had total faith in. 

In the future, he hoped to take on more dramatic roles. He said he bears his father’s roles in mind at all times and aspired towards his ‘work, determination, work ethic’.

He also attributed his success to his mother’s ‘sacrifices’ growing up and believed his father would credit 95 per cent of his successes on his mother Maria.

Romance

At the age of 31, Patrick has spent the majority of his young adulthood joined at the hip to his supermodel fiancée, Abby Champion.

But before he met his future wife, the actor has also dated another A-lister – the singer Miley Cyrus. 

The two first met in 2014 and were together for around five months before calling it quits on the whirlwind romance.

At the time of their dating, the singer, now 32, was 22 when she began dating the actor, who was 21 at the time.

They famously made headlines after they were spotted sharing a kiss at a University of Southern California football game in November 2014.

Patrick, who was a student at the time, was seen cosied up to the singer while sporting USC Trojans gear.

The two reportedly connected through multiple mutual friends, having ‘run in the same circles for years,’ US Weekly said at the time. 

At the time of their split, insiders cited their opposing lifestyles as the reason things didn’t work out. 

‘They’re just in two different places in their lives – he’s in college and she’s focused on her music and career,’ an insider at the time said. 

The split came hot on the heels of reported romantic dramas between the two, with Patrick having reportedly been seen with two different girls while holidaying in Mexico, which Miley apparently found ’embarrassing’. 

It wasn’t long after his breakup with Miley that he found his forever love in Abby Champion, who he has dated for more than a decade. 

The pair, who were 21 and 18 when they met in 2015, began dating and over a period of years, Patrick realised that he was locked in for life.

Describing the moment the two met, he told PEOPLE: ‘I think that when we first met, there was obviously an attraction — physical attraction — and I thought she was the most beautiful girl that I had seen and had met.’

Their relationship has evidently stood the test of time. Patrick told the publication that he has only grown more in love with her over time,.

He added that the pair had grown into their relationship with the years passing.

‘I think one of the best things that we’ve had is that we’ve grown a lot together and we’ve grown our personal relationships, but also our careers together,’ he said. 

Patrick said the two share ‘core values’ and similar ideas on family. The White Lotus star said he would be up for having children as soon as ‘tomorrow’ but was waiting on Abby to give the green light.

Now, seeing her career excelling alongside him, brings him immense joy with Patrick admiring her hardworking attitude and ‘vision for her life’. 

Patrick popped the question in December 2023 an are planning their nuptial for 2025, having been forced to delay the ceremony due to filming commitments.   

The news that he had been cast in White Lotus was bittersweet for Patrick his long-term love, Abby, who had got engaged shortly before and would be forced to spend several months apart.

‘I found out and I was like, ‘I’m not going to see you for the next seven months, so I apologise in advance,’ he said reflecting on the moment.

Though filming lasted just under six months, the separation would undoubtedly have been a challenge for the star.