'White Lotus' Star Sam Nivola Almost Fainted Over His Patrick Schwarzenegger Sex Scene

"I was sort of doing a one-armed plank, with my other hand jerking off Patrick."

Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola Posing Together Pointing to Each Other Smiling at 'White Lotus' Premiere Los Angeles February 10, 2025
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While speaking with incestuous sex scene Sarah Jessica Parker Reveals She Tried to Get Out of Sex and the City After Pilot Episode White Lotus, Please fill out this field that Why Patrick Schwarzenegger Chose to Do This White Lotus Scene Naked Patrick Schwarzenegger (who plays his character's brother, Saxon) from this Sunday's episode.

Sam Nivola and Patrick Schwarzenegger in White Lotus

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Costumes, 40 Sketches, and a Titanic Iceberg: How Tom Broecker Crafts SNLs Costume Magic Elite Daily, Nivola shared that filming a sex scene can be quite tiresome, “I didn’t realize how exhausting it is to have fake sex. I was sort of doing a one-armed plank, with my other hand jerking off Patrick," he explained. "It was like doing weight lifting with your right arm while you do a plank, and it lasted for such a long time.”

Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs and Sam Nivola Posing Arms Around Each Other Los Angeles Premiere 'The White Lotus' February 10, 2025

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And apparently, the scene wasn't a one-and-done kind of situation. Nivola revealed that it took  “took a couple hours to film."  “At one point, I was on the verge of passing out," he recalled.

Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola Posing Arms Around Each Other Los Angeles Premiere 'The White Lotus' February 10, 2025

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Nivola previously spoke to Variety about the incestuous plot line, breaking down the reason behind the brother's controversial scenes. "I think it comes from a sense of insecurity," Nivola told the outlet about Lochlan's actions on the boat. "He really looks up to both of his siblings, not from the point of view of a physical attraction. It’s more curiosity, and trying to figure out which kind of person he is going to become. He tries to connect with him in whatever way he can. I think Lochlan is a people pleaser, who will try to get people to like him by any means necessary."

Schwarzenegger and Nivola's co-star Charlotte Le Bon, who plays Chloe, said that the brother-on-brother kiss that happened in episode 5 was also difficult to film. "Well obviously they’re not brothers by blood, so that made it easier," she explained. "For Sam, he was kind of like, it’s whatever, let’s just do it well one time and it will be over. You know? Because if you don’t do it well the first time then you have to do it over and over again."

Schwarzenegger found it much more challenging. "Patrick’s reaction in the episode is his genuine reaction," she added. "We all thought he was going to throw up. And Sam was like, 'It’s fine, it’s just a kiss, calm down!'"

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