Leslie Stahl — buckled over with laughter and nearly giddy at times — revealed little of the Governator we hadn't seen before.
“Once a stud, always a stud.”
So said former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as he set on out an intimate — but professional — rowboat ride with 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl.
On the water, on a movie set, and in a number of stunning international locales, the two discussed Schwarzenegger’s life and his new book, Total Recall, set to hit Kindles and bookshelves around the world today.
Stahl — buckled over with laughter and nearly giddy at times — revealed little of the Governator we hadn’t seen before. The 65-year-old body builder-slash-actor-slash-politician clearly has never stopped doing any of the three.
The methodical, patient Schwarzenegger displayed the necessary amount of thin-lipped sorrow while answering tough questions about his failed marriage and dalliance with housekeeper Mildred Baena.
But his stoic Austrian upbringing muzzled any unexpected showing of emotion — or really much bond at all — toward his second family. In fact, Schwarzenegger told Stahl, the matter was never discussed — ever — even with the child’s mother:
“I found out about it seven or eight years in. … He started looking like me. That’s when I kind of got it. It was never discussed. I put things together here.”
Once the resemblance was obvious to him, Schwarzenegger started supporting the boy and his mother:
“I felt that I should take on the responsibility of taking care of him. And her. … So I started taking care of Joseph financially. … I gave it to her and she knew what it was about.”
Secrets can’t be kept forever, of course. When Schwarzenegger left office as California governor, his wife Maria Shriver confronted him during marriage counseling, bringing out the truth. And unraveling the marriage.
Schwarzenegger also admits during his interview — and in his book, from what we’ve garnered — a few other significant trysts he kept from Shriver over the years.
As for some of Schwarzenegger’s other secrets? Guess we’ll have to wait for the sequel.
Jesse Garnier is the editor and founder of SFBay. A Mission District native, he also teaches journalism as associate professor at San Francisco State University.
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