Patrick Schwarzenegger Reveals He Was ‘Scared’ Of Dad Arnold When He Saw Him Costumed As Batman Foe Mr. Freeze

By Brent Furdyk. Published: 6 Dec 2019 3:32 PM

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When your dad is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, playing a comic-book villain, it’s likely that you may wind up seeing him look a little differently on the set than he does at home.

That was the case of Patrick Schwarzenegger when, as a child, he went to pay a visit to father Arnold Schwarzenegger on the set of 1997’s “Batman & Robin”, in which he portrayed Mr. Freeze.

“I was super young,” Patrick, 26, told Variety. “But I have these brief memories of my dad going in and becoming Mr. Freeze. And him going in as dad and coming out as this big, blue, bald guy. I have photos of me with him and my mom, and I’m, like, creepily staring at him, like I’m scared and I don’t know who he is. I think I was scared of him.”

Patrick Schwarzenegger is currently starring in “Daniel Isn’t Real”, a psychological thriller about a college freshman (Miles Robbins) who suffers a traumatic incident that leads him to resurrect his imaginary friend from childhood, Daniel, who pushes him to commit violent acts.

For the role of Daniel, Schwarzenegger dyed his hair and darkened his eyes with mascara and sported a goth-like wardrobe.

“It was the total opposite of who I am, obviously,” says said the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. “It’s always more fun to play someone that you’re not. It was probably one of the most fun roles that I had.”

Revealing he did three different auditions before being cast, Schwarzenegger admitted he was initially shocked by the film’s premise. “When I first read the script, I was a little bit, like, ‘Whoa! What the f**k is going on?’” he said.

“And then, as I read it more, I got really interested. It brought up current issues — mental health and how pertinent it is today with young men, and the idea of toxic masculinity,” he added. “Those were some of the reasons I wanted to end up doing it.”

“Daniel Isn’t Real” opens on Friday, Dec. 6.