Joseph Baena and Arnold Schwarzenegger are close today, however, it took a bit of time to reach this point. Arnold has some controversy attached to his past, which includes his father's controversial ways and of course, his relationship alongside housekeeper Mildred Baena.
We'll take a look back at how things unraveled for Arnold and how he figured things out. We'll also take a look at how Joseph found out and what his reaction was.
How Did Arnold Schwarzenegger Find Out About His Son Joseph?
We're going to find out how Arnold realized the identity of his son, however, it wasn't exactly easy for his son Joseph Baena either. To this very day, Arnold's son recalls the experience like it was yesterday. It all escalated when he was a teen, being pulled out of school as the news started going viral about Arnold's mystery son.
Joseph revealed the crazy details of it all alongside Yahoo News, "I remember the day very vividly. I was in the eighth grade," Baena recalled in the interview. "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.'"
"Your body's transforming; your mind is transforming. And now my life transformed before my eyes," Baena said of the emotional time."
It was a crazy scenario and one that was initially being worked out behind closed doors. However, once the leak to place, it was all out in the open, and it changed everyone's lives, especially Arnold's family who didn't have a clue about the ordeal.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Kept Things Very Quiet
According to Arnold, it took the action-film star seven to eight years to finally realize the child was actually his. Schwarzenegger revealed that the resemblance was truly what made him realize that Joseph was his, “he started looking like me, that’s when I kind of got it. I put things together,” Arnold stated alongside '60 Minutes.'
Things got very tough for Arnold at home, as now, suddenly, his family completely fell apart, "“It was very difficult, strange, bizarre,” said Schwarzenegger. “I just said to myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to put this away."
“I asked them for forgiveness,” he said. “They cried. It tears your heart out."
“If you would have asked me 10 years ago, five years ago, two years ago, what is the most important thing in my life, I would tell you over and over, it’s my marriage, it’s my family. So the thing that really meant the most to me kind of fell apart because of my doing. That is something that I will always look back and say, ‘How could you have done that."
Arnold would speak very little about Joseph at the time, though he would ensure that he was taking care of him and was happy to be doing so.
Thankfully, their relationship would not be damaged and instead, it appears as though the two are very close these days.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Close To His Son Joseph Today
During the 'Unwaxed' podcast, Joseph discussed his relationship alongside Arnold. Baena did reveal that it took a bit of time to get comfortable around his dad, "I have to point out that with my relationship with my dad, it took a little while for me and him to get really close and just joke around with him and talk about anything."
He continued, "I grew up with my mom and I was just always nervous. And I didn't want him to think badly of me to be like, ‘Oh, what the heck is this guy doing? Like partying all the time.'"
However, things would work out for the best, as they're extremely close these days, with Joseph letting Arnold in on the gossip from his life, along with allowing Arnold to meet his girlfriends.
"I'm so close to my dad and we joke about everything," Joseph said. "He always wants to hear about the drama. He's like, ‘Tell me everything! Tell me the drama. Tell me about these girls.'"
"Introducing the girls to him has been great because he's outgoing. He's so casual with it. Whenever I've brought a girl over for dinner or something, we've always dressed not like super nice, but just dressed up a little and he's in his sweats. He's like, ‘What are you guys dressed up for?'"
A great turnaround for Joseph, who continues to pursue acting while also working as a real estate agent.