I’m not trying to be too high-minded about this, but I do think Mike White intends for The White Lotus to serve as a particular kind of discourse about the state of American men and American masculinity. As in, American masculinity is in terrible shape – American men on the show are toxic, emasculated, abusive, corrupt, awkward, performative and/or just dumb. Well, The White Lotus Season 3 recently started and I feel like Patrick Schwarzenegger doesn’t understand that he’s not actually playing some kind of sexy character? Everything I’ve seen from Patrick’s promotion, he really thinks he’s playing “the heartthrob” of the show. He is not. But that’s what his character would probably think of himself, so I get why Patrick was cast. Some highlights from Patrick’s VMAN cover interview:
How he got introduced to acting: “I was introduced to acting, to the film world by my dad. My favorite activity growing up was my dad yanking me out of school early and getting to go to set. For a kid, it was like a dream. You got to go to Universal Studios, and during my dad’s breaks, we’d take the golf cart around, go to King Kong, Jaws, ride Jurassic Park and ET. It just opened my eyes to the film world. This idea that my dad would go in as ‘dad’ and come out as Mr. Freeze or as Terminator, that’s what drew me in at first. I started doing plays at school, and then I took it way more seriously after college and continue to study and continue to work. And my career side has continued to grow year over year since then.
Getting cast on ‘The White Lotus’: “It was really kind of wild. It’s my favorite show—my family’s favorite show. I remember when we were watching the first seasons, my family, my sisters, my mom, my fiancée would always yap at me, saying, ‘Why aren’t you in the show? Why didn’t you audition for this?’ And then the third season, when it came up in my inbox, it was such a secretive, confidential thing. I started to learn it was White Lotus, and I was internally freaking out, but also kind of like, ‘There’s no way I get this. Probably everyone and their mother is going out for it.’ When I auditioned, I found out right away that it was really in the tone that they were looking for for the character. When I got it, I just started crying. It was just such a crazy, surreal moment—one of those shock moments where it doesn’t feel real, you know?
His polarizing character: “Yeah he’s a douche, but at the same time, it was important for me to make sure you kind of want to like him. He’s annoying and you hate him, but you also find him funny and ridiculous. And that was this fine line for Mike of wanting to make him have these humanizing moments, but also moments where you’re just like, everyone knows this kind of person. There’s always that person you know that’s kind of funny but just ridiculous. And you probably don’t want to bring him around your family and your parents, but you think he’s funny at school. So it was that balance.
His daily life: “Abby and I wake up, and we walk to coffee first thing in the morning. We’re lucky. We live in an area where we can walk to coffee, groceries, everything. We’re both coffee connoisseurs and addicts. Then we walk down to the beach, and I do prayers down there looking at the ocean and nature. Then I go back, usually work out, shower—or if I have time to, sauna. We will eat breakfast, and then I’ll go to the office. I’ll stay at the office until the afternoon or so, and then go back home. And usually, we’ll cook up dinner or something. Twice a week, we go to my mom’s house for dinner—on Tuesdays and Sundays.
I was like… wait, how old is he? He’s 31, playing someone post-college in their early 20s. So he lives in his own place with his long-time partner, and he goes to Maria Shriver’s house twice a week for dinner, and apparently he watched The White Lotus with his mom and partner too. No… I really understand why Mike White cast Patrick as the oldest son of a f–ked up family. “Yeah he’s a douche, but at the same time, it was important for me to make sure you kind of want to like him.” Nah.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
