Across the third season of The White Lotus, Patrick Schwarzenegger’s character Saxon has been purposefully standoffish, perversely single-minded, and outrageously overconfident. Which makes him as natural a piece of this world as ocean views and daily massages. But that consistency started to waver after the party on Greg’s boat, during which Saxon and his brother Lochlan drunkenly kissed before other naughty things started happening between them. It turns out those changes weren’t just mental and emotional, but also physical.
At least according to Schwarzenegger himself, who talked to Men’s Health about playing a character who “leads with his penis” and walks with bravado when we meet him, only to see him start to fall back into himself as the season goes on and he starts to question what his identity even is without the concepts of money or sex. Thankfully he didn’t opine about jettisoning the act of working out from his daily routine, or else Schwarzenegger himself might have had an identity crisis.
Which is where the lapse in physical continuity comes in. Patrick Schwarzenegger is the son of a former Mr. Universe — and his famous pops even commented about P.S.’ nude scene in the premiere — addressed how the timing of landing the job combined with his diet and steady exercise routines and altered how he looked without a shirt on from one episode to the next. Here’s how he put it:
I've always loved working out. We grew up with it. And I change my workout regimens and my eating based on what the character is supposed to be like. I got this job and within three to four weeks, we were filming. It was fast. My first day of filming on-set was when we shot all of my shirtless scenes at the pool, including Episode 1, when I’m walking by the pool.
Of course, after that first day of filming, the actor's body didn't magically remain that exact shape for the rest of the shoot. And as he got into a rhythm with his diet and workout routine, it quickly started to make a difference, which made for a noticeable-if-you're-looking-hard-enough break in ab-related continuity. I'll admit that's not my biggest concern for any shows hitting the 2025 TV schedule, but not everyone's the same.
Patrick Schwarzenegger continued, saying that there were around four months between that first pool scene and the next one that appeared in Episode 303, and he thinks the difference between the two scenes is quite noticeable. As he put it:
And then about four months later, we did one other shirtless pool scene for episode 3. It’s really funny. If you actually look closely, you can see the difference in how much weight I’ve gained. I’m way tanner and way chunkier and more muscular in episode 3. I was working out constantly and eating chicken and rice and pad thai every day, all day. I gained 12 to 15 pounds throughout the seven months we were there, which was not great for continuity, but was fun.
I can imagine how easy it would be to gain 12 to 15 pounds in a single weekend at the White Lotus, so for that to be the extent of his gains for the entire shoot, that's likely far better than what I'd come away with. They might be able to open a whole new White Lotus resort on top of the extra weight I'd gain. I dunno that I'd be going straight to the chicken and rice so much as booze and fried foods. But I guess that's why I'm only writing about the show and am not currently acting out an incestuous relationship with my li'l bro for the sake of impressing other women.
The White Lotus' Season 3 finale will be available to watch on HBO and stream with a Max subscription on Sunday, April 6, at 9:00 p.m. ET.
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