Patrick Schwarzenegger is taking the mantle from his father, legendary action star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger, 27, who stars in the new movie “Echo Boomers,” about a group of college graduates who steal from the rich in Chicago, has a blossoming acting career that the elder Schwarzenegger is pleased to see.
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“He’s so proud of me. Both my parents are proud of me,” Schwarzenegger said Monday on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, referring to his father and his mother, TODAY contributor Maria Shriver.
Schwarzenegger, who has been modeling for several years, said it is odd how he is the one in the family making movies now after he spent so much of his youth around the film industry with his dad, who underwent heart surgery earlier this fall.
“It’s pretty surreal ‘cause I remember growing up and going to set with him and it was my favorite activity,” he said.
“And I was so sad when he became governor, to go from Universal Studios’ lots to the Capitol. But it was really surreal to have him come to set and have kind of the pages turned and, yeah, he’s really proud of me. You know, they’re so supportive and I couldn’t ask for a better parent duo.”
While his parents may be beaming at the career path he’s carving for himself on the big screen, there are some things they may not want to see their son do.
Shriver recalled the terror she felt when she saw Patrick in a sex scene last year in the psychological thriller “Daniel Isn’t Real.”
“There was a sex scene in this movie that I was completely unprepared for,” Maria said on TODAY last December. “I had a moment there. I’m in the theater — and I went with both my daughters (Katherine and Christina), and Patrick and his girlfriend — and I did not know this scene was coming. Luckily, I was not sitting next to him.”
Maria said she was squirming while debating whether she should watch.
“(My daughter) Katherine was like, ‘Oh, my God!’ And I was like, ‘Should I look? Not look? I don’t know! I feel awkward. It’s really stressful.’ I felt like, ‘I don’t want to see this because it’s inappropriate,’” she said.