Every time we get a new season of The White Lotus, it's always exciting to find out which characters will be the breakouts of the season, who will inspire the most memes, and who will provide some of the most jaw-dropping moments of the season. It didn't take long for season 3 to solidify that Patrick Schwarzenegger's character Saxon Ratliff would be a real piece of work.
Saxon embodies the typical "finance bro" stereotype with a twist of nepotism, as he works for his father's company. He has no filter or self-awareness, a brutal combination for Saxon to pack up and bring on his family vacation to The White Lotus resort in Thailand. In the first episode of season 3, Saxon delivered a memorable moment that will go down in the show's history.
The final moments of The White Lotus season 3 episode 1 find Saxon and his younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) sharing a room and preparing to go to sleep in their separate beds. Saxon wonders out loud how he will be able to masturbate during the weeklong trip with his brother in the bed next tom him. He excuses himself to the bathroom, but he's already completely naked.
Patrick Schwarzenegger explains The White Lotus nude scene
During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Schwarzenegger revealed that it was actually his idea for Saxon to not only sleep naked but to be comfortable enough to walk around in the buff:
"So, on the day that we filmed that scene, they had like underwear and pajamas and stuff out. I was like, dude, this guy would just walk around naked. This is not the kind of guy who’s wearing pajamas to bed. He sleeps naked and his brother being there is not going to change anything — you see that in the line he says about the real issue is how I’m going to jerk off with you in here. It’s such a ridiculous line but that’s the sort of thing that’s really going through his head."
Schwarzenegger does, in fact, bare all in the scene that prior to airing had been teased by his dad, though most of his genital area is obscured. It's interesting to hear Schwarzenegger talk about the character work that went into building Saxon, including his physicality. He's totally the kind of character who would cross this line of decency in order to prove something to his little brother. We even see him peacocking by the pool to women who give him no time of day. His confidence is relentless.
The actor clarified in his conversation with The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn't believe Saxon thought about the nudity situation enough to view it as a "power move" on Lochlan. He had a great understanding of who Saxon was and how he wanted to portray him going into the character, and Schwarzenegger also said that "signing up for this show requires a level of trust in [creator] Mike White]." Here's more of his talk about the nude scene:
"I don’t think it’s calculated. He’s just trying to prove to his brother that this is how he should live life. Mike and I worked on the physicality of the character, and this guy leads with his private parts — like, that’s how he walks. He thinks he’s good-looking and has a great body and that all the girls are looking at him. He has no regard for the other people in the room."
Of course, a scene like this makes it a bit awkward to celebrate the major accomplishment of landing a leading role in a major HBO show with his family. We know how his famous father, Arnold, reacted, but his famous mother, Maria Shriver, reacted a bit differently. As she confessed to People, Shriver didn't even notice her son's nude scene as she was too focused on his face.
"My kids were like, ‘Did you see that?’ And I was like, ‘No. What?' So that shows you — a mother’s eyes are always on the kids’ eyes."
That's probably for the best! Since we're still early into the season, with the second episode airing as of this writing, who knows what the future holds for Saxon and his potential lack of clothing. He's just getting started in his pursuit of a good time on his family vacation and the awkward situations he's putting his siblings, mostly his brother, in. No matter what happens, it's exciting to watch an actor who's game for anything that best serves his character and the story.
Watch The White Lotus only on HBO and Max.