In The White Lotus’ highly anticipated third season, Patrick Schwarzenegger’s character, Saxon, is the exact kind of douchebag attracted by the five-star setting of the show’s Thailand resort location. A privileged sleazebag, he speaks his mind, and definitely shouldn’t. All these ‘qualities’ made Saxon the dream role for Schwarzenegger, who craved a character that would pull him from himself and onto the global stage – allowing the actor to turn his own personality inside out and create sensibilities and nuances to make Saxon feel all too real. Friends initially through their parents, Patrick and John Owen Lowe have been best buds ever since they were first conscious of each other, making John the ideal person to grill Patrick as his career reaches a pivotal moment.

John Owen Lowe: As we start, I’d like the record to show that Patrick has just left the room. I’ll wait while you raid my fridge.
Patrick Schwarzenegger: Let the record show that I brought you coffee this morning.

JOL: That’s true, I’m very appreciative of that. I think we should start by telling everybody how long we’ve known each other. Like, twenty-plus years?
PS: Probably 28 years because I’m 31 and you’re 29.

JOL: It’s my whole life, essentially. Our parents have been friends for a long time. I think my dad was on the campaign trail with your dad, and your mom is my godmother too.
PS: But the first time we actually hung out as real humans was probably, I would think, Mom & Me or something.

JOL: [laughs] Maybe Lamaze class when we were in the bellies.
PS: Well, definitely with Matthew your brother.

JOL: Oh, yeah. I guess that timing wouldn’t make sense. When we were younger you didn’t mess with me that much.
PS: No, not until you were probably fifteen.

JOL: When I got into high school – because Patrick’s two years older than me – that’s when the older kids finally decided I was cool enough to hang.
PS: We took you under our wings.

JOL: Look at where that got me, man. [both laugh] So for fifteen years we’ve been best friends. I don’t want to jump right into this, I feel like we should slow-burn it. But I do have one burning question in my mind, which I have to ask you immediately as your friend: was that a prosthetic penis?
PS: [laughs] We have to keep the movie magic quiet.

JOL: But you’ll tell me off-camera?
PS: Yeah, I’ll tell you off-camera.

“I did the first five seconds of the audition almost checking out or eye fucking the camera.”

JOL: [laughs] OK. Tell me about the moment you found out you booked [The White Lotus]. I know you posted the video [Patrick shared a video on social media of him telling his family about booking White Lotus]. Was that Abby [Champion, Schwarzenegger’s fiancée] secretly recording?
PS: Well, Abby totally messed it up. She was recording it because I had found out right before – actually, you’d called me right before I told my family. We were at lunch and I kept acting extremely… not weird, I was just staying quiet. And, you know, Katherine [Schwarzenegger] and my mom will pick up on anything. They’ll needle anything and hound you until you tell them what’s going on. [laughs] They just kept doing it and kept doing it, so Abby started filming, and I was like, “OK, fine. I’m just going to tell them.” And then right when I told them that I was going to Thailand for seven months for White Lotus, my mom screamed, which Abby got on video. Then Abby put the phone down, she was so embarrassed because there were other people in the restaurant. Then my mom started crying, then Katherine started crying, and then I started crying.

JOL: Did Christopher [Patrick’s brother] cry?
PS: No, Christopher wasn’t there. He was at the Michigan-Alabama game.

JOL: Oh, so we know where his priorities are.
PS: [laughs] Exactly. But he did the audition with me and he was there for the chemistry read when I did it with Mike White [The White Lotus creator].

JOL: Doesn’t Abby help you?
PS: She does.

JOL: Patrick has a whole team of friends and family that he will sub in for his self-take.
PS: You’re there, you’re on the list.

“We didn’t get the scripts and didn’t get to know much about the character. I think the log line was that he’s a Southern finance bro or Southern finance douche that loves to flirt with anything.”

JOL: I’ve been in the mix a couple of times. Before we discuss the specifics of White Lotus, what’s next for you? I imagine right now it’s a bunch of press and soaking in the glory of this role?
PS: Yeah, the show comes out over the course of two months. So I’ll go to New York for press in a few weeks, and then we go to Spain, then Germany, and they’re talking about potentially Australia. It’s this cool moment because HBO Max is also launching in foreign territories. So this week we were in Thailand because we filmed it there, but also because Max are launching their Asia app.

JOL: So you guys are essentially a part of the rollout strategy.
PS: Yeah, it’s kind of a springboard to get people to start downloading the app in foreign territories. Then it goes into The Last Of Us. That’s pretty much what I’m focused on these next few weeks. And then there’s the benefit of getting to do some campaign work and endorsement work with Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic, Brooks shoes, and Ketel One.

JOL: Sorry, how many brands did you just shout out? Was that five? [both laugh]
PS: And Mosh! [a brain health brand Patrick co-founded with his mother]

JOL: I’ll give you Mosh because you created that – shout out to Mosh. One thing I feel very confident in saying is that I know you’re going to be very busy after everyone watches The White Lotus. It’s been an interesting chapter post-strikes, figuring out what the landscape of our industry is going to be. It took a while for people to get their footing again, and then as we were getting momentum again we had the fires. My hope – trying to find the silver lining – is that we’re on the cusp of getting back to where we were. We saw almost a 50 percent cut in productions. That’s why I love writing, producing, creating, because my hope is that I can bring opportunities not just to myself but to others. Tell me all about Saxon. He’s kind of a douchebag, was it difficult for you to channel that, because you’re actually – shockingly – a very nice, humble man in real life.
PS: Oh, thank you. When I got the audition it was funny because there was only like, one sentence about the character. We didn’t get the scripts and didn’t get to know much about the character. I think the log line was that he’s a Southern finance bro or Southern finance douche that loves to flirt with anything. So when I got the audition, I read through the scenes and took a swing as to how I wanted to interpret him. I’ve watched the other two seasons, so I know what Mike loves from his male actors, the ones Theo James and Jake Lacy [played]. I took a swing with what I thought they were looking for and what the character would represent in terms of his physicality, how he walked. Chris actually gave me a really great point…

JOL: Chris is Chris Pratt by the way.
PS: Yes, Chris Pratt. [The advice] was that in an audition, the casting director knows whether you’re good or not for the role within the first five seconds. So I did the first five seconds of the audition almost checking out or eye fucking the camera. I thought that was this really weird, creepy moment of the character before he starts hitting on these three ladies in the audition. Without giving away where the character’s going, on the surface, he’s someone who loves his family, loves his siblings…

JOL: Yeah, we know that. [both laugh]
PS: He works for his father and is kind of stuck in his father’s shadows but trying to make his own path and a name for himself in Durham, North Carolina. I think that also kind of suffocates him and he puts on this bravado and exterior cloak to try and hide that. He puts on this persona of what he thinks a ‘man’ should be and yeah, it’s fair to say that he’s a douchebag. When I booked the role and did some FaceTimes with Mike, his main point to me was that he wanted this character to be totally a douche but he also wanted the audience to kind of like him. ‘A likeable douche’ is what he would say. He would call me an ‘amuse bouche’.

JOL: A what?
PS: You know, like an amuse-bouche. [John laughs] Hopefully overall there are humanising moments that make you kind of root for him.

JOL: You nailed that because that’s how I felt. I watched the first episode with you and a group of our friends and we all said the same thing – and obviously we’re unbiased but, you know, you crushed it. You want to see [this character] on your screen, you want more.
PS: It was a weird, scary moment for me when I booked it because I didn’t want him to be this surface-level douche. But obviously Mike is too rich of a writer [for that to happen].

JOL: You felt safe in his hands.
PS: I did. One of the other things that is so genius about him is that as an actor you want this huge turning point for a character, these big payoffs. But on the shoot he told me, which I loved, was, “Don’t worry about how you want the audience to see it. This is a real person having a vacation for six days – not everybody has this massive change in six days. I want some characters to have massive changes, I want some characters to not change, I want some characters to have just the slightest change and the audience wonders where they’re going to go after this.” That’s the level of detail somebody as genius as Mike can bring. It’s cool to be on a project where you’re nervous and anxious about delivering, but you also feel safe and that he’s got your back. I also play younger than my age, I think in the script I’m 26 years old.

JOL: It’s because you’ve got a smooth face. [Patrick laughs]
PS: I should have a skincare company.

JOL: You don’t need another brand deal. Stop it! [both laugh] We need some over here in Johnny Lowe-land. Was it hard for you to not tell people plot points? Say you read something in a script and you’re like, “Oh my god!” There’s a natural human instinct to want to share that with people.
PS: I was so scared that I was going to get fired off the show or something was going to happen if I told anyone. Everyone would be like, “You’ve got to tell me.” And then they would cover their ears and be like, “No. No. No. No. Don’t tell me.” Abby came and visited us in Thailand a couple of times and she was so frustrated that she had no idea what was happening or who was playing each person. She knew that Sam [Nivola] was my little brother and Sarah [Catherine Hook] was my little sister, but you could find that out from Deadline, and that Parker [Posey] and Jason [Isaacs] were my parents. She came and watched a couple of scenes we filmed and was totally trying to get answers. She’s now happy that she doesn’t know because it’s way more enjoyable to not know now when she watches it. But I also don’t know everything, I chose not to read a lot of the other people’s scenes.

JOL: Oh, interesting.
PS: So for me it’s also fun, because I’m a massive fan of the show. I didn’t want to know everything.

JOL: That’s got to be fun, the duality of being present, being part of something, and also simultaneously being a fan and consuming it. How long were you in Thailand?
PS: I was there for just over six-and-a half-months. The shoot was about seven months total.

JOL: I’ve done my research for this interview. I’ve gone on your IMDb, your Wikipedia, I’ve gone on the Mosh website and – you’re prolific. You’ve got real estate ventures in there as well. You do so many different things, man. You actually studied business at USC [University of Southern California]. So, where the fuck do you find time for all of that? Do you have a lot of fun in your life?
PS: We have a lot of fun.

JOL: That’s true.
PS: I also have fun working. You know, working in Thailand for six-and-a-half months on a shoot is the ultimate high. I have a lot of fun when I’m on set. And acting is such a weird job, it’s such a rollercoaster of workloads. You work every day for like, six-and-a-half months, and then you won’t work for the next six-and-a-half months. My dad always taught me that if you’re going to go into acting, you should have a business background…

JOL: And he knows a thing or two about switching careers.
PS: Exactly. He knows a thing or two about focusing on other careers at the same time as acting. And that doesn’t mean that while you’re acting you should have your mind elsewhere, it’s about utilising your time to push forward.

“Without giving away where the character’s going, on the surface, he’s someone who loves his family, loves his siblings…”

JOL: I’m sure these questions are as frustrating to you as they are to me, but they’re also important. Is it weird growing up with your dad being such a prolific figure? Not just in what he’s accomplished, but in people’s minds. I have my own personal experiences with this, but I’d be curious to hear yours. Did you have any feelings around that when you told him you booked this huge role? Were there any fears around proving people right or wrong about yourself? You’ve done such a good job of carving your own path and proving that you’re your own person, but there’s always going to be this inevitable comparison when you carry your last name. From an outsider’s perspective, it feels like this is maybe the final piece of a puzzle where you can go, “Look at this.” You know what I mean? Like, you’re in fucking White Lotus – that’s a huge deal.
PS: Yeah. When I booked it I told my family and they were over the moon for me because they are all huge fans of the show. Going back to the idea of living in my dad’s shadows, that always crosses your mind, but it’s not something where you take a job or don’t take a job because you’re worried about how people will perceive it. The only thing that I didn’t want to do, this was just my personal choice, was work with my dad. That’s not to say I would never. Actually, now I would feel comfortable working with him. But prior to that, I just wanted to find my own career path.

JOL: You’ll finally say yes to the buddy comedy where it’s you and me and our dads? [both laugh]
PS: Yeah, all of us together. Maybe [White Lotus] is a turning point for me. There will always be people who will continue to say things about why I got the job or my last name or that I suck – all these different things. But also hopefully people in the industry will see it as a turning point, which is the most important thing. The Staircase was a big moment for me, it was a show that was not necessarily massively watched like White Lotus, but it was watched by a lot of casting directors and a lot of people in the industry. It got me seen in a different way. That was a tipping point for me that led to Gen V, which led to American Sports Story, which led to White Lotus. It was a trickle effect.

JOL: The truth is that people are always going to have their opinions, but it’s so much more important to prove things to yourself. It sounds like that’s what you’re saying and I love that. Just so you know, I think it’s important to say that a lot of these questions you were supposed to ask back to me, but it’s OK.
PS: Oh, is this a two-way interview?

JOL: It’s a conversation, man! [both laugh] I’m going to go off-topic. Do you have a dream collaborator or dream project next?
PS: Honestly, this was my dream job. I spoke with my agents and managers in 2023 when I knew that this season was [happening] and it was at the top of my goals. I always want to work with and learn from really high calibre writers, directors and actors. I guess the next thing I’d really want to work on is a film.

JOL: So we’ll see you in the next Christopher Nolan movie that they’ll shoot in, like, four years from now or something?
PS: I wish. What about you?

JOL: I feel fortunate. The last show I did, Unstable, I created, wrote, produced and acted in it, a comedy on Netflix about my relationship with my dad. That was the dream to create my own TV show. I’m actually curious to hear your take on this, I had a sort of five-year plan and a ten-year plan built out for myself, and there was this really surreal, weird feeling when I sold that TV show of, like, I just accomplished something that when I set out to do it, I thought it was a very lofty goal. So, what’s next? You have to adjust your goal line almost. Now it’s dawning on you that White Lotus has premiered and that’s this huge thing you’ve done, are you kind of like, “What’s next?”
PS: I feel like that’s a state you’re always in as an actor. My dad would always say that the only way you see other mountain peaks is by getting to a mountain peak.

JOL: That’s nice that that was your dad’s advice. When the New York Times reviewed the first season of Unstable like, “Comedy highs with the Lowe family,” or something, my dad sent me that headline and said “It won’t get better than this.” [both laugh] Do you have a genre you prefer?
PS: A constant is that I’ve wanted to do very dramatic roles. Going back to our original conversation about worrying about people comparing me to my dad, I always wanted to do something that was completely opposite of what he’d done. I didn’t want to go right into being an action star or something like that. First off, who would want to see a twenty-year-old action star? It just doesn’t work unless you’re [Timothée] Chalamet or something of that nature.

JOL: So kind of the same physical build going on there. Right?
PS: Exactly. [laughs] I always wanted to find roles that were all very unique from each other, and that continued to paint me in ways that people didn’t necessarily see me.

grooming MIRA CHAI HYDE; photography assistant LIAM BOOKER; fashion assistant JORDAN SHAFFER