Not many of you may know that Joseph Baena is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son. Baena, who followed in his father’s footsteps, is a bodybuilder, real estate agent, fitness model, and soon-to-be actor. The 25-year-old young man is set to make his onscreen debut in an action movie Called to Duty and has been training hard for the same. Find out more about the lesser-known son of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Who is Joseph Baena?
Arnold married his ex-wife Maria Shriver in 1986. The couple were together for 25 years before they got divorced in 2011. They had four kids- Katherine Schwarzenegger, Christina Schwarzenegger, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Christopher Schwarzenegger. However, the former governor of California had a fifth child named Joseph Baena outside of his marriage. Baena was born on October 2, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. He was the result of Arnold’s extramarital affair with his housekeeper Mildred Baena. Mildred worked as a housekeeper at Arnold and Maria’s home. She reportedly left the Schwarzenegger house when she found out she was pregnant with the Terminator actor’s child.
Joseph Baena was raised in a Guatemalan household in Bakersfield, California with his other siblings. His mother kept the secret about his father from him until he was 13 years old. While talking to People, Baena recalled the day he found out about his father-
“I remember the day very vividly, I was in the eighth grade. Fifth or sixth period. And I get called out of class to leave. And my mom’s there, and she’s like, ‘We gotta go—everyone is finding out about you and who your father is.’ ”
Although, Arnold knew about Joseph Baena when he was eight years old and started to look like him. The Terminator actor told People in 2012 that he had to come out with the truth to his family as he couldn’t keep it a secret for long.
“The boy started looking like me, that’s when I kind of got it. I put things together.”
“It was very difficult, strange, bizarre. I just said to myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to put this away.’ ”
Arnold revealed in his book Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story that he told his ex-wife about Joseph Baena when she confronted him in the therapist’s office. He wrote-
“The minute we sat down, the therapist turned to me and said, ‘Maria wanted to come here today and to ask about a child — whether you fathered a child with your housekeeper Mildred’.”
“I told the therapist, ‘It’s true.’”
Why didn’t Joseph Baena take his father’s last name?
Baena has grown closer to his father over the past few years. He stated that he was nervous to meet him for the first time.
“I grew up with my mom and I was always nervous and I didn’t want him to think bad of me and be like, ‘What the heck is this guy doing? He’s just partying all the time.'”
“Now it’s like awesome. I’m so close to my dad and we joke about everything.”
He added how his father is always interested in his life and all the drama around it.
“He always wants to hear about the drama. He’s like, ‘Tell me everything, tell me about the drama, tell me about the girls.'”
When asked why he didn’t choose to take his famous father’s last name, Joseph Baena said that he’s “doing his own thing” and doesn’t think about all this stuff.
“I never had the Schwarzenegger name. I think really the thing is that I haven’t focused on changing it. I’m doing my own thing. I haven’t thought of it that much. I have a last name already. I’m already doing so much and succeeding and moving forward with my goals. That’s the last thing on my mind.”
It is great to see that Baena gets along well with his stepbrother and stepsisters. They’re often seen hanging out together on family occasions.
