Maria Shriver & Arnold Schwarzenegger 'Sharing' Pride in Patrick (EXCL)
Patrick Schwarzenegger’s parents, dad Arnold Schwarzenegger and mom Maria Shriver, are cheering his success in The White Lotus every step of the way and an insider exclusively tells Life & Style how it’s brought the divorced pair closer together as a result.
“For all Maria’s complaints about Arnold, one thing she has never questioned is his devotion to their kids,” the source says. “He’s always been a very present and loving dad and that’s something she’s always appreciated about him, because Maria’s kids are her whole world.”
The couple married in 1986, but famously split in 2011 after the Pumping Iron star, 77, revealed he had fathered a kid, Joseph Baena, with their former housekeeper Mildred Baena while they were still married. Maria, 69, reportedly knew nothing about the child until her husband told her years later.
The mother of four now says she’s in a “good place” with ex Arnold, even after describing the “brutal” time he put her through with the news of his other son. “We laugh a lot about our kids, our grandkids, ourselves,” she told People in an interview published on Wednesday, March 26. “And we are proud of the fact that we are still in conversation. For almost 50 years!”
“I’ve worked hard at forgiveness: forgiveness for myself, forgiveness of others. We all go through life, and at different times, we need to ask for forgiveness, and we find ourselves in positions to bestow … There’s probably no person in the world that doesn’t need forgiveness,” the former First Lady of California added. Maria released a book of poetry, I Am Maria: My Reflections and Poems, discussing the difficulty she faced after the bombshell ended her marriage.
But the source notes that mostly nowadays, with son Patrick’s star on the rise in Hollywood as his role in The White Lotus takes off, her attention has turned from moving past the trauma of her husband’s infidelity to supporting her son, 31, and her other three children, Katherina, Christina and Christopher, as much as possible.
“She’s absolutely bursting with happiness for Patrick right now,” the insider says. “He’s been working towards this acting thing for years and years and it hasn’t been as easy as people might expect, considering his pedigree.”
As a second source previously told Life & Style, Patrick’s role in the Mike White-led show “has finally put him on the map in a major way,” after the up-and-coming actor had been “plugging away for ten years now,” in Hollywood.
“He’s had to push himself through a lot of rejection, which has been very hard for her to watch as his mom,” the first source adds, “but he’s continued to audition and work with coaches to improve, and it’s now paid off in a big way because people are raving about what a great job he’s done and Maria and Arnold are both giddy about it.”
“They’ve been messaging each other any time someone congratulates them on Patrick because they do feel equally responsible. He’s their baby, and they’re sharing this moment in the sun with him.”