Arnold Schwarzenegger Just Got Very Candid About Maria Shriver Divorce

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been reflecting on his life and legacy a lot in his recent work, and that includes the darker chapters – like his divorce from Maria Shriver. Schwarzenegger has been promoting two new projects at Netflix, including a an autobiographical documentary called Arnold and an action series called FUBAR with a few subtle semi-autobiographical elements. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter he talked about his divorce from Shriver in that context, calling it “my failure.”

Schwarzenegger and Shriver’s divorce near the end of his term as Governor of California made headlines as it was revealed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son with their housekeeper and kept it a secret from Shriver for years. He said that that story was part of the inspiration for his character Luke in FUBAR, who cheats on his wife and then deals with the fallout. He said: “We were laughing about it – it feels like it’s a documentary. The difference is, in the show, he doesn’t consider it cheating because [seducing CIA assets] was part of his profession. His wife moved on because he never was home, and now he has this dilemma with the daughter because she has the same job and it’s going to screw up her relationship, too.”

“But in [my real-life marriage to Shriver], it was my f— up. It was my failure,” Schwarzenegger went on. “Also, in the show, he’s deep down still in love with his wife.”

When asked if he misses being married, Schwarzenegger said simply: “No. [The divorce] was very, very difficult in the beginning. Eventually, you move on. I have a wonderful girlfriend, [physical therapist] Heather Milligan, who is very successful. I’m really proud of her, and I love her.”

As for Shriver, Schwarzenegger is proud of where their relationship is at now. He said: “She and I are really good friends and very close, and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids. Even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mother’s Day together, the Christmases together, all birthdays – everything together.” He even joked: “If there’s Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for having the least amount of impact on the kids. The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that’s from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me.”

While Schwarzenegger’s real life evolves off camera, FUBAR is streaming now on Netflix. The streamer also has the new documentary Arnold where Schwarzenegger reflects on his own life at greater length.