Patrick Schwarzenegger Took 1 "Big Swing" In His White Lotus Audition
“I just did these ridiculous faces to the camera.”
When Patrick Schwarzenegger received an email asking him to audition for The White Lotus Season 3, he immediately felt conflicted. “I was like, ‘Ugh, do I even want to do this?’” the 31-year-old actor tells Elite Daily. It’s not that he wasn’t a fan of the hit HBO series — quite the opposite, actually. Schwarzenegger couldn’t get enough of the first two seasons as a viewer, which made him skeptical of his odds of getting a part.
“It's kind of deflating because you just know that every single person is going out for it, and the chances of getting it are slim to none,” Schwarzenegger says. “It isn't the right way to think about it, but that's what happens.”
He knew he had to stand out in his audition video, so he “took a big swing.” “The scene involved me looking at these women and hitting on them,” Schwarzenegger says. “So I took a moment before that and I just did these ridiculous faces to the camera. Right away I heard back, ‘This was exactly what we're looking for. This is the exact tone of the character.’”
The character in question is Saxton Ratliff, a flirtatious finance bro with a Southern drawl on a family trip to Thailand. Fans will meet him when The White Lotus Season 3 premieres on Feb. 16, almost exactly one year after Schwarzenegger arrived in Thailand to begin filming. The actor immediately started bonding with his on-screen family, which included Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola.
“We watched movies together. We went to the gym. We went to the beach. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” says Schwarzenegger, who recently partnered with Ketel One Vodka and Tanqueray Gin to highlight Thailand’s tastiest flavors. “You're at this hotel with just the cast and the crew, so you don't really have any other choice. And I'm not someone that likes alone time.”
He admits that he’s still the most active texter in the fictional family’s group chat. “I'm the person saying, ‘Breakfast in 10, who wants to go?’ Or, ‘I'm going to the gym, who wants to go?’ ‘Who wants to go snorkeling?’ ‘Who wants to go on a hike,’” Schwarzenegger says. “I think some people are like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to chill out.’ But I need to be constantly moving and hanging out with people.”
Schwarzenegger was already familiar with his White Lotus parents before filming the show. He had just worked with Posey on the 2022 miniseries The Staircase, and Isaacs’ most famous paternal role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies preceded him. “I would always make fun of him. We would be doing a scene and I would go up to him and be like, ‘Now, now, Potter,’” Schwarzenegger says. He shares there are “definitely parts” of Lucius in Isaac’s new role as Ratliff patriarch Timothy.
Now, as part of his “Sip into The White Lotus” campaign, Schwarzenegger is paying tribute to his seven months in Thailand ahead of The White Lotus premiere. The campaign features cocktails inspired by the show — like the The White Lotus Vesper Martini and The White Lotus Punch — along with exclusive events and a Thailand destination giveaway.
Schwarzenegger stars in the campaign video, which sees him crafting the perfect White Lotus Vesper Martini capable of transporting anyone to Thailand with just one sip.
“We made some really great tasting cocktails that utilize the cultural side of Thailand,” Schwarzenegger says. “And they infuse aspects of this high-end, five-star resort. I’m so excited I got to be part of it.”
