Arnold Schwarzenegger Has Clueless Reaction to Son Patrick’s ‘The Boys’ Role

Arnold Schwarzenegger is not keeping up with the latest in superhero television shows. His son, The Staircase star Patrick Schwarzenegger, said he showed The Terminator star a photo from the set of The Boys‘ upcoming spinoff, and the elder Schwarzenegger was confused by the Amazon Prime Video series. Patrick, 28, has an undisclosed role in the show about younger heroes.

“He looked at me and he was like, ‘What the f— are you filming?’” Patrick said on the Just For Variety podcast Tuesday. “I was like, ‘It’s this show called The Boys… You have to watch an episode to understand it, or else I can’t articulate what happens in it.”

Patrick is right that it takes a lot to explain what The Boys is about. The series is based on the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and set in a world where superheroes are commercialized and overseen by Vought International. The superheroes are celebrities who all have very dark personas behind their flashy lives in front of the cameras. There’s also a group trying to tear it all down and expose Vought for the corrupt organization that it is. The Boys has become Amazon’s flagship Prime Video series. Season 3 debuted with three episodes on June 3 and new episodes are released on Fridays.

Patrick auditioned for the part of Homelander, which eventually went to Anthony Starr. However, the producers kept him in mind when they started developing the new spinoff. He could not read the scripts until after he got the part. There are rumors he is playing a character named Golden Boy, but he couldn’t confirm or deny that.

“They were just like, ‘It’s about this. This is the character. This is what’s going to happen in this,’” Patrick told Variety. “I was like, ‘OK, it’s The Boys. I know it’s going to be something crazy but it’s an amazing show.’ … And then when I started reading [the scripts] on set, I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is going to be, yeah, this will be fun and interesting.’”

Patrick described the spinoff as “Euphoria meets superheroes.” The project centers on young adult superheroes who take on Hunger Games-style challenges at a college run by Vought. Lizzie Broadway, Jazz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, and Maddie Phillips also star. It’s the second The Boys spin-off, following the animated series The Boys: Diabolical.

Patrick recently scored a breakthrough role on HBO Max’s The Staircase, a dramatization of author Michael Peterson’s trial in the murder of his wife Kathleen Peterson. Patrick plays Michael’s son Todd, whose storyline involves exploring his sexuality. Patrick’s performance on the show has impressed viewers, many of whom didn’t think he could act. He’s embraced that though, even retweeting the responses from fans. “I’m having a great time, and this project’s been a lot of fun. And the reactions have been great,” he told Variety. “A lot of them are funny.” All eight episodes of The Staircase are available to stream on HBO Max.