According to Mildred Baena—Arnold Schwarzenegger’s former housekeeper and the mother of his son born in 1997, Joseph Baena—when it came time to tell her son, thirteen years later, who his father was, his grandmother sat him down and shot straight: It’s Arnold. According to Mildred, her son simply replied: “Cool!”
In an interview for the Men’s Health March cover, Baena reflected on the year his paternal history made headlines.
“I remember the day very vividly,” he says. “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.’” Swarming news trucks. Photographers. “I’m 13,” Baena continues. “Your body’s transforming; your mind is transforming. And now my life transformed before my eyes.”
Baena and his mother decided to road-trip to Texas to see relatives and escape the media frenzy. “She was really the only person I had, and I was really the only person that she had,” Baena says. “No one knew, and everyone wanted the details. We had each other’s backs.”
Mildred Baena was born in Guatemala. She worked for Schwarzenegger’s family for 20 years before leaving in 2011. Joseph and his father have since united and appear to have become close. Both will exercise together, Baena often at Schwarzenegger’s iconic training ground, Gold’s Gym.
Baena, however, is wary of talking all things Arnold, and he looks ahead to a career he can define for himself. Baena is currently pursuing acting, though he made a conscious choice not to use his paternal last name.
“When I go to auditions, they don’t know who I am, because we don’t have the same last name.” Baena says that when he books a gig, “I know it’s all me.”
“My dad is old-school; he doesn’t believe in handouts. He believes hard work pays off, and so do I.”
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