Patrick Schwarzenegger opens up about The White Lotus nude scene and his father’s reaction

Patrick Schwarzenegger confirms he went fully nude in The White Lotus and shares his father Arnold’s reaction.

HBO’s The White Lotus has never shied away from nudity, and season 3 is no exception.

This time, Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Saxon Ratliff, takes center stage in a bold scene that had even his father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, cracking jokes.

In the season premiere, Ratliff is introduced as the arrogant eldest son of a wealthy American family vacationing in Thailand. Early in the episode, he attempts (and fails) to flirt with several women. Later, as he gets ready for bed in a shared room with his younger brother (played by Sam Nivola), he wonders aloud how he’ll masturbate with his sibling nearby—before heading to the bathroom, dropping his robe, and revealing his bare backside.

Unlike previous seasons, where actors like Theo James and Steve Zahn used prosthetics for nude scenes, Schwarzenegger confirmed in a recent interview that everything on screen was real. “Yes, that’s my real butt,” he said. “No stand-in. Once I read the script, I knew what was coming.”

His father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was quick to react with a playful Instagram post. “I could claim to be surprised to find out he has a nude scene, but what can I say—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” he wrote.

The White Lotus season 3, set in Thailand, is now streaming on HBO.