Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a love child in 1997. That kid grew up to be Joseph Baena. Why doesn’t he go by Joseph Schwarzenegger? Here’s what he has to say.
The Affair That Ended A Hollywood Dynasty
Maria Shriver shockingly left Schwarzenegger in 2011 after 25 years of marriage. The separation was soon followed by even more shocking news: Schwarzenegger had a son no on knew about. He had an affair with housekeeper Mildred Patricia Baena. The affair became a media circus. Shriver quickly filed for divorce, but it would take a decade for everything to be settled.
One may have expected Schwarzenegger to just disown the child, but that’s not what happened. Schwarzenegger explained in an interview on 60 Minutes that he hadn’t realized the boy was his until the child turned 7 or 8-years-old, when the resemblance between him and the Austria-born actor was clear to see.
What Happened To The Child?
Joseph Baena, the lovechild in question, recently spoke to E! about his childhood and how he views his father. Baena has followed Schwarzenegger into the world of bodybuilding. “My dad is a stallion. He’s a man’s man, I like to think, and I look up to him a lot.” You can judge the comparison from this photo on Baena’s 24th birthday.
Baena continued, “he’s influenced a lot of things: the path that I have taken with acting, with fitness and my physique, and the many other things that I’m doing.” There’s no denying that Baena isn’t cut like his father was at 24. Like his father, Baena says he spends “hours” at the gym every day and has a serious diet regimen.
What’s In A Name?
He was asked why he didn’t take his dad’s last name. “I’m just focused on building myself up and building my career in acting and real estate and just focusing on that right now.” He wants to build his own name for himself, like Adonis Johnson in Creed. He also said, “there’s a few different variables in that.”
Like his dad, Baena is also an actor. Watch out for him in 2022’s Chariot, also starring John Malkovich. It cannot have been easy growing up with such a famous father, but it looks like Baena is determined to make it on his own just like Schwarzenegger did. The two hang out frequently, and he seems pretty well adjusted all things considered.