Patrick Schwarzenegger steps out of his father’s shadow in The White Lotus

Let’s face it: it can’t be easy having a surname like Schwarzenegger. Aside from its difficulty to spell, it’s got — let’s be real here — certain associations. The “I’ll be back” connotations, the “who is you daddy and what does he do” — the ARNOLD of it all.

So spare a thought for Patrick, aspiring actor, wannabe star and now White Lotus legend.

It’s taken him years to break away from the name that has followed his career, but boy has he done it.

And then some.

That scene in episode six is going down in TV infamy (we won’t elaborate here, but if you know, you KNOW) and talk about a breakthrough!

“Well, it depends on how you look at other things I have done,” says Schwarzenegger (the younger), who is chatting to PLAY from a room at the Park Hyatt in Sydney.

“This is definitely the most watched (show) and the most viewed, and it has the largest following. But for me, every role I have done has been a ‘break’, and I have just continuously been building momentum, and building my resume to get to this point.”

And it’s true: a quick check online shows a padded list of film and TV projects, starting with his first credited role as “Jock Kid Game #3” back in 2006, when Schwarzenegger was the tender age of 13.

“But I guess The Staircase was really the first time (I broke through),” he says of the 2022 miniseries that aired here on Netflix.

“It was (showrunner) Antonio Campos believing in me and giving me the opportunity to do that, and be opposite Colin Firth, and Juliette Binoche and Toni Collette — all these amazing actors.

“That was a real pivotal moment in my career, where I think people in the industry saw me in another light.”

Now, thanks to Mike White, they’ll see him in another one entirely and he’s front and centre in the most talked-about show in the world.

At the time of writing it’s the week before the finale is set to air. And it’s fair to say fans are waiting with bated breath to see what unfolds. Schwarzenegger is not being forthcoming with any spoilers.

“Because I don’t know!” he says “I mean, I know a little bit . . . but I just read the bits that I am in.”

He’ll be watching along with the rest of us. In fact, he’s making a night of it, inviting the cast to view the finale at a party he’s throwing at the home he shares with fiancee Abby Champion.

“I’ve been travelling pretty much since the first episode came out, but whenever I get back home, I have links, and I get to watch a couple in a row, so I watch with friends and stuff,” he explains.

“This week, in LA, I watched with my mum, my fiancee and some friends, and next week I am going to host a little viewing party with all the cast at my house.

“None of us have seen episode eight.”

Mike White keeps a tight ship — his plans for each season, and for the show as a whole, are kept very much on a need-to-know basis.

This is part of the reason all cast and crew are asked to relocate to the location they’re filming in each season. For this year’s cast, that meant seven months living at the resort that doubled for The White Lotus in Koh Samui in Thailand.

As you might imagine, the cast grew close as a result — there are several group chats doing the rounds. And yes, they are swapping memes about the show along with the rest of us.

“Oh yes,” Schwarzenegger laughs.

“The one with my Ratliff sibling group, we send a lot to each other.

“They love sending ones to me that are embarrassing . . .”

No doubt there will be more after Monday’s finale. But as Schwarzenegger says, we’ll all have to wait to see what’s about to unfold — including him.

“Expect what you would think: it’s going to be crazy, everything comes crashing and burning for all the different groups,” he hints.

As for what’s next for the star on the rise: he’s keeping mum about that as well.

But with his performance commanding universal praise from critics and fans alike, surely the only way is up — and something tells us he’s more than the sum of that famous last name.

“Things are in the works, so we will see,” he says cryptically.

Something tells us he’ll be back.