Maria Shriver would like to set the record straight about the differences between her son and the character he plays on “The White Lotus.”
Patrick Schwarzenegger, Shriver’s son with former California governor and action movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, plays Saxon Ratliff, a toxic Southern finance bro who has had some jaw-dropping scenes on the current season of the HBO hit.
“Patrick is not like Saxon,” Shriver told Savannah Guthrie on “TODAY” on April 1. “I just want to clear that up because people say, ‘Is Patrick like Saxon?’ I’m like, ‘Do you think I would’ve raised a Saxon?’”
Schwarzenegger, 31, has also experienced fans conflating him with Saxon, whom he said is a “weird and creepy kind of guy” in an interview with TODAY.com in March.
He said that after a nude scene in Episode One, someone asked him, “Dude, you really like that with your brother?”
“No!” Schwarzenegger replied. “But, you also can’t control what everybody thinks.”
From incestuous moments to the nude scene that had Arnold Schwarzenegger joking that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Saxon has been a breakout character on the dark comedy drama about privileged guests at a stunning resort in Thailand.
Shriver joked that the release of her new book, “I Am Maria,” is being overshadowed by her son’s career-making role.
“I’m going to change the name of the book (to) ‘I Am Patrick’s Mother,’” she said, “because all anybody wants to talk to me about is Saxon.”
She at least has been able to brace herself for some of her son’s racier scenes in the show, including the nude scene.
“I did know that was coming,” Shriver said. “He kind of warned me, but not really warned me. That’s between me and Patrick. He kind of warned me, but he won’t tell me.”
Shriver is just as engrossed in this season of “The White Lotus” as everyone else. She is eagerly awaiting the season finale on April 6.
“I hope Saxon doesn’t die this weekend,” she said. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I swear on my mother I don’t know.
“I’ve changed my whole book tour to be home to watch the finale,” she continued. “I want to have a viewing party, but he told me he has to work, so I’m going to have my viewing party without Saxon.”
She also is a proud mother after her son’s career hit a new peak.
“I’m really happy for him,” Shriver said. “He’s worked so hard. He takes acting classes, he gets rejected a lot, and this is finally the role of his life. And he’s having a great time with it, and everybody wants to talk to me about it.”
