‘Midnight’ son
Patrick Schwarzenegger takes lead in romantic heartbreaker
LOS ANGELES — What’s in a name? If it’s as famous as Schwarzenegger, there are perks, but it’s not a golden ticket, according to Patrick, son of actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. “Maybe your name can get you in the door, but people aren’t going to give it to you because of your name,” said the Schwarzenegger scion, star of this Friday’s “Midnight Sun.”
“My parents,” he said, “were supportive of me acting but emphasized an education. I went to USC, in business and film school.”
The romantic heartbreaker marks Schwarzenegger’s first lead role, at 24.
He plays Charlie, a popular high school senior who falls head over heels for Katie (Bella Thorne), whom he meets one night as she is singing for change at the train station.
As their romance begins, Katie doesn’t tell Charlie she suffers from a lifethreatening disease that prohibits exposure to sunlight. He’s depressed after an injury cost him a full ride to Stanford’s swimming team.
“One has everything taken away from her and the other has everything and messed it up,” said director Scott Speer, of the “Step Up” movie musicals.
Schwarzenegger agreed: “He does seem to have everything: popularity in school, a swimming scholarship, talent. And when that’s gone he realizes ‘the last 15 years of my life have been a waste.’ He’s lost, broken.
“But when he stays home for the summer and meets the love of his life, he’s not lost, he’s not broken. There are so many things he can do, and if it wasn’t for her, he would have gotten back in the pool” to try again for a scholarship.
Schwarzenegger mastered multitasking for “Midnight Sun.”
“Because for Charlie, swimming is what he eats, breathes and loves. If you do that, you have to be the swimmer.
“When I found out I had the role two months before, I had someone from the film team train me. Then I was part time in school and filming in Vancouver.”
As for casting, Speer said, “Patrick’s very internal, not only as an actor but in his own life. I asked him to share a story of loss and Patrick’s was the one that got him the job.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger never visited the set in Vancouver. “Patrick talks about how his father inspired him to be the best you can be. His father said, ‘Write down on a piece of paper and put it on a nightstand and you’ll see it every morning to be reminded of your goals.’ I never got the impression he was trying to have that (heritage) count for something,” said Speer.