Patrick Schwarzenegger Ditched His Partying Lifestyle to ‘Make a Name for Himself’ as an Actor

Patrick Schwarzenegger is highly regarded in Hollywood due to his impressive acting skills – but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a partying phase before hitting it big.

“It’s an open secret around the family that when his parents’ split up, Patrick was the one who took it the hardest,” an insider exclusively tells Star of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s 2021 divorce — 10 years after the mother of four initially filed in 2011.

“It’s definitely understandable – he was going through a vulnerable time in general,” adds the source. “Nobody was surprised. It’s a Kennedy tradition for young men in the family to run a little wild.”

Maria, 69, is John F. Kennedy‘s niece, making Patrick, 31, the late president’s great nephew.

However, as his acting ambitions grew, the insider says there’s “no question” that “this behavior slowed down.”

“It was something he had to grow out of if he was going to make a name for himself as a performer,” continues the insider.

Patrick has undoubtedly managed to do that in recent years, specifically by showing off his edgy acting chops in season 3 of The White Lotus, in which he played affluent Thailand vacationer Saxon Ratliff.

“For the first time in his career he’s won over fans completely on his own merit,” adds the insider. “Most people who know Patrick are relieved that he didn’t find true success until his early thirties … he’s mature now, and he can actually handle all the attention he’s getting!”

In April, Patrick’s mother assured fans that her son was “nothing like” his spoiled character in the hit HBO Max show.

“The only thing Patrick does do like Saxon is push the button on the Vitamix,” she joked to Today.com, referring to the character’s love for fitness and protein shakes. “He and his brother, both, are like, ‘Zzt,’ and early. It’s the worst. I’m just, like, ‘Excuse me?’ … Why doesn’t somebody make a quiet blender? I don’t know why they don’t do that.”

While his success happened seemingly overnight, Maria gushed that she was “happy” for her son because she knew that he’d “worked so hard” to hone his skills as an actor over the years.

“For every role like this you get, you’re rejected like 300 times. You have to be resilient,” she continued. “You have to stay at it. And he has really stayed at it.”