VARIETY ‘ACTORS ON ACTORS’: Arnold & Patrick Schwarzenegger on THE WHITE LOTUS, “I’ll Be Back” Line and More

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In a new conversation for VARIETY’s “Actors on Actors” issue, father-son duo Arnold and Patrick Schwarzenegger discuss Patrick’s on-screen nudity in “The White Lotus,” Arnold attempting to dispute his iconic “I’ll Be Back” line with James Cameron, how carrying the Schwarzenegger name can be an obstacle for Patrick, the public’s perception of Patrick’s “The White Lotus” character, the career advice Carrie Coon gave him, and more.

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Arnold and Patrick on Arnold’s reaction to Patrick’s on-screen nudity in “The White Lotus”:

Arnold: “‘Terminator’ was the first time that I was doing a film that had nothing to do with the muscles. It was with leather jackets on and being a machine. Only the opening scene was naked. But I’m talking about naked.”

Patrick: “I’ve done it.”

Arnold: “I couldn’t believe [it]. 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. 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.

Arnold on how he disputed his famous “I’ll be back” line with “The Terminator” director James Cameron:

“I would say, ‘I don’t like the line “I’ll be back.”’ He says, ‘What do you mean you don’t like the line?’ I said, ‘It’s just weird for a German to say, “I’ll be back.” Why not just say, “I will be back”?’…He says, ‘Oh, you’re trying to tell me how to be a better writer, because I’m not telling you to be a better actor. Just say, “I’ll be back.” If you want me to do 10 takes because you feel insecure about it, we can do that. But don’t change my writing.’”

Arnold and Patrick on how carrying the Schwarzenegger name was an obstacle for Patrick:

Patrick: “I feel it in multiple different ways. Mike White said that it comes with baggage, the idea that when you have successful parents like I do with you and Mom, there’s an added level of what other people think. Mike was worried about, if he cast me, what other people would think. Which they did—they did care about that; people said I got the role because of you and Mom. There were times earlier in my career where I was wondering, does it make sense to go under an alias? It took a while for me to get to a point where I was less worried about living in your shadow versus wanting to do it the way I thought I should do it.”

Arnold: “I’m glad you kept the name, because now I can take credit. You joined a very short list of people: You know, Jamie Lee Curtis—I think she’s one of the greatest actors in history. If you show you have the substance, you can get rid of the whole idea of nepotism.”

Patrick: “I understand how hard you and Mom have worked throughout your life to give me the opportunities that I’ve had. The biggest advice you gave us kids is to work hard. I’ve tried to honor that.”

Patrick and Arnold on the public’s perception of Patrick’s character from “The White Lotus”:

Patrick: “One of the best parts about being on the show is the amount of people that get to recognize [my] work; I’ve done so many shows that not so many people have seen.”

Arnold: “Now everyone is coming up to me in the gym and saying, ‘Your son is fantastic.’ Someone else comes up to me and says, ‘I hated your son in the series.’”

Patrick: “That was the weird part.”

Arnold: “Hated him? What kind of a compliment is that? They said, ‘He was fantastic, but the character he played was so believable.’”

Patrick: “The biggest learning experience is how much people associate you with your character. I don’t know how much that happened to you over the course of your career—maybe with ‘The Terminator.’ The first weeks, people came up to me and told me how much they hated me. By the end of it, they came up to me saying how much they felt bad for me. It was a roller coaster.”

Patrick on the career advice “The White Lotus” co-star Carrie Coon gave him:

“Carrie Coon came up to me a few weeks ago and was like, ‘Honey, you’ve got to do a different role next, because you’re doing a really good job at playing a douchebag, and people believe it.’”

Patrick on Arnold taking him out school to go to his movie sets:

“Aimee Lou [Wood] asked me, ‘Where did you first get interested in acting?’ And I was like, ‘It was heaven for a kid, going to a movie set with your dad.’ 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. 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.”

Arnold and Patrick on how Patrick and his siblings hated when Arnold became Governor of California:

Arnold: “…in 2003, as you remember, I ran for governor and became governor, which you guys…”

Patrick: “…hated.”

Arnold: “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…’”

Patrick: “…we go to the Capitol.”

Arnold: “All of you were rebelling.”

Arnold on how he stayed persistent in the early days of his acting career:

“When I came to America, Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson were the highest-paid actors, with a million dollars a movie. I said, ‘I’ve got to be part of that.’ Eventually I made $30 million a movie, and I caught up with those guys. Even though everyone says, ‘Arnold, it’s never going to happen. Your name—Schnitzel or whatever it is—no one will remember, and you’re too big now.’ In the ’70s, it’s Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino, Woody Allen—those are the big stars of the day. ‘They weigh 140 pounds, and look at you, 250, like a monster.’ I was discouraged; everything was impossible. But I had a clear vision of myself being up on top. That’s all I cared about. And so I climbed that ladder slowly.”

Arnold on auditioning for Lucille Ball:

“She called me at Gold’s Gym. I, of course, had no idea what reading for a movie was all about.”

[Photo Credit: Peggy Sirota for Variety Magazine]

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