Joseph Baena might be able to capture the attention of casting directors a bit more easily if he were to use his father's last name, but the rising actor and son of Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't have the interest in doing that. Baena, who also works as a realtor and sells mansions as a side hustle, has been delving more into acting in recent years. We could be seeing more and more of him on-screen in the coming years if this is just the start of a promising acting career.
In any case, Baena is sticking with his birth name and won't be getting credited as Joseph Schwarzenegger in any of his future projects. He recently addressed the situation, per Inside Edition. Here's what Baena had to say when asked why he won't be using Schwarzenegger.
"Well, I already have a last name, and I don't have a problem with my last name. I like my last name."
This is not a slight against his father, with whom Baena has a close relationship. Baena is the son of Mildred Baena, who had been working as a housekeeper for the Schwarzenegger family when she became pregnant with Joseph. At the time, Schwarzenegger was expecting his fourth child with wife Maria Shriver. This revelation didn't emerge until 2011, in part due to the uncanny resemblance Joseph had with his father. Schwarzenegger and Shriver have since divorced.
These days, Baena is very close with both of his parents. It would seem that one reason he's so proud of his last name and will be keeping Baena professionally is because he wants to make his mother proud. With that said, Baena also hopes to make his father proud as well, as he's inspired by each of their own life stories.
"Well, literally, we have the same shoe size. I never thought of it in that way. My career path is really just my own... My mom is one of my main motivators, and seeing her and how she works so hard, I want to make her proud. Same with my father. What he made of himself from nothing. I mean, both of my parents are immigrants that kind of created something out of nothing. So, seeing them, it's been a huge inspiration, and I want to make them proud. I want to make myself proud."
Joseph Baena Is the Spitting Image of His Father
One way Joseph Baena has already gotten involved with acting has been to recreate the "Bad to the Bone" scene from Terminator 2. If you couldn't see the resemblance before, it's more clear than ever when Baena literally recreates a performance previously portrayed by his father. He might not be a Schwarzenegger on his driver's license, but he sure is in about every other way.
Baena also has some other acting roles currently in the works. He can be seen in the upcoming movies Chariot with John Malkovich and Rosa Salazar; Bully High with Betsy Russell and Taylor Jabara; and Encounters with Madison McKinley and Sade Katarina.