Arnold Schwarzenegger's gym rat son Joseph Baena reveals 'chubby' past motivated his body transformation
Joseph Baena, 27, whom the action star, 77, shares with former family housekeeper Mildred Baena, reflected on the challenges he faced in getting in shape in a new Instagram video.
'People sometimes forget that I used to be chubby in high school,' the bodybuilder wrote.
He produced a humorous video in which he considers skipping his workout only to be reminded of his former form.
'I got cut from my basketball and soccer team because I couldn't keep up with the other kids,' Baena explained of the painful rejection he received when trying out for sports.
'Swim didn't have tryouts thankfully and completely changed my life forever,' he said of his experience at Riverside High School, some two hours away from his biological father's home in Los Angeles.
Baena added that swimming 'was my introduction to Fitness and training. Everyone starts somewhere but starting is the most important.'
Many of the young actor's followers identified with his struggle.
'Bro that was me in childhood too!!,' wrote one sympathizer.
'I still remember waiting at the amphitheater for my sister and you coming up to me asking if I was gonna swim that year but I was already doing theater,' a former classmate shared.
'That's so great to hear! My daughter is on the swim team at her high school and she has really muscled up!! It's a great sport!!'
Another fan paid him the ultimate compliment by comparing him to the role that helped turn his dad Schwarzenegger into a big screen action star.
'Our new Conan!!! I mean that with all respect because dude you are it!!!!,' they wrote.
'Happy you tapped into some of the best genetics on the (planet)' stated another.
Baena has two jobs, working an a realtor in Southern California while also focusing on acting.
He has been keeping busy in front of the camera.
The up-and-coming star has a part in the upcoming holiday film, Dog Patrol, starring Cuba Gooding Jr, which will be release on September 20.
He has also completed work on the romantic comedy American Spark written and directed by Michael Baumgarten.
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Daily Mail
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
I did one of Ozzy Osbourne's final interviews… & despite health woes he said ‘I'm nearly dead – but I can't complain'
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'It's been hard on her though,' he said, 'because she has to hold the fort'. Ozzy had long given up alcohol but added: 'My tolerance has gone I'm glad to say because when I started drinking, I would start looking for drugs. Ozzy Osbourne fights back tears as he thanks wife Sharon for 'saving his life' in appearance at Rock N Roll Hall of Fame 'Sharon had good training in dealing with chaos!' Only three weeks ago, the Prince of Darkness who brought light into so many lives gave us one last hurrah when heavy metal royalty descended on Villa Park, Birmingham, to pay their respects. The Back to the Beginning gig ended with him — seated on a giant black throne because he could not stand — joining his Black Sabbath muckers on the songs that took him to the world stage. Paranoid, Iron Man and War Pigs. Songs that shaped a huge, loud and lairy genre of popular music. John Michael Osbourne was born 76 years ago into humble surroundings. His mum Lilian worked at the Lucas car parts factory in Birmingham. His dad Jack worked night shifts as a toolmaker at the General Electric Company. But as Ozzy, Prince of Darkness, he was one of the world's greatest showmen. Singer, hellraiser, comedian, family man (and occasional love cheat), he always kept a smile on his face — even when the chips were down. I got to know Ozzy well over the years and, every time I met him or spoke to him, he had me in stitches with his wicked sense of humour. Even when his health was failing, he tried to look on the bright side — literally. In that same interview last autumn, he broke into the immortal lines from his favourite film, Monty Python's The Life Of Brian: 'Always look on the bright side of life . . . life's a piece of s**t, when you look at it.' Then Ozzy added: 'I used to sing that to my kids when they were babies. 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In another of our chats, he cast his mind back to his teenage years and said: 'When I was walking down Witton Road in Aston with a blue transistor radio and She Loves You came on, I thought, 'What the f*** is this?'. 'It used to be Cliff Richard and all that stuff — but this was The Beatles!' He decided to pursue his dream of becoming a singer — and posted an advert in a local music shop, saying: 'Ozzy Zig Needs Gig. Experienced frontman, owns own PA system.' It attracted the attention of two of his future Sabbath bandmates — guitarist/composer Tony Iommi and the bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler. Before the recent Villa Park gig, I asked Iommi to go 'Back to the Beginning'. 'At school, I didn't even know that Ozzy could sing,' he said. 'It was a racket at first I must say but, after we'd been playing for a while, he got really good.' As for the singer's madcap behaviour, Iommi continued: 'He got more loony as we went on. 'Eventually, he became like he is — very out front.' 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'Obviously drugs were involved,' he said. 'It got to a stage where Ozzy had lost interest. 'He'd go missing for a couple of days in Los Angeles — things like that. 'I was nominated to go to the record company and make all the excuses. 'It got to a point where I had to say, 'Look, we'll have to replace Ozzy or break up'. At the time, it was best for both of us and Ozzy went off and did his own thing.' And that's when Sharon entered his life. Then 27, she was the daughter of Sabbath's manager Don Arden. She convinced Ozzy that he could be a solo star, and that she should be the one to manage him. Not only did she become mother to his three children Aimee, Kelly and Jack but she also got things back on track — up to a point. Debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz, with big numbers like Crazy Train, Suicide Solution and Mr Crowley, appeared in September 1980, and eventually sold more than five million copies. This brings us to Ozzy's most infamous incident — the moment he bit the head off a bat, thinking it was made of rubber. It happened on January 20, 1982, in Des Moines, Iowa, when a member of the audience threw the poor creature on to the stage. Ozzy later revealed that the bat was still alive and that it bit him first, hence he needed treatment for rabies. He told me how his audiences had never let him forget the incident across the decades. 'At one of my gigs, someone let a dog go with a sign on its leg, saying 'Please don't eat me!'.' Ozzy also told me how loved to clown around like the late great Tommy Cooper — but that his antics didn't go down too well with his bandmates. 13 Of one particular tour, he said: 'Most nights, I slipped over on the stage. 'I nearly fell into the f***ing orchestra pit. "I mean it's tough on the other guys. 'When they were all getting serious, I'd make them laugh and they all get pissed off. 'Nothing's rehearsed with me. 'One day, I'll just put a bucket on my head.' In later years, Ozzy became much more than just a singer. He and his family became global TV sensations through their groundbreaking fly-on-the-wall documentary The Osbournes. It was such a smash hit that it paved the way for similar reality shows featuring Paris Hilton and later The Kardashians. I remember visiting Ozzy in LA not long after the show ended and being surrounded by some of the family's numerous dogs. In 2022, I asked him if he missed the hellraising and he answered: 'On the 4th of July, my wife and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary and I said to Sharon, 'What the f*** happened to 40 years?'. When we spoke, he was at pains to point out: 'It's seven years since I had a drink, seven years clean and sober. 'Don't smoke tobacco, don't drink, don't do drugs. 'It's quite boring actually.' So, what could he still do to give him a hit, I asked. 'The only thing left is masturbation,' laughed Ozzy. 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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath's bat-biting frontman, dies aged 76
LONDON/LOS ANGELES, July 22 (Reuters) - Ozzy Osbourne, frontman of 1970s heavy metal band Black Sabbath, earned his infamy biting the head off a bat on stage and pursuing a drug-fuelled lifestyle before reinventing himself as a loveable if often foul-mouthed reality TV star. Known to fans as "The Prince of Darkness" and the "Godfather of Heavy Metal," Osbourne has died at the age of 76, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love," they said. Osbourne kicked off his career in the early 1970s as singer on Black Sabbath's hits, from "Paranoid" to "War Pigs" to "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". Those plus a string of solo releases saw him sell more than 100 million records worldwide. The hard riffs and dark subject matter - from depression to war to apocalypse - combined with an instinct for Halloween theatrics. As a performer, Osbourne sprinkled audiences with raw meat and, in 1982, had his encounter with a bat thrown on stage by a fan. He always insisted he thought it was a toy until he bit into it, realised his mistake and rushed to hospital for a rabies shot. He later sold branded bat soft toys with a removable head. Osbourne was a regular target for conservative and religious groups concerned about the negative impact of rock music on young people. He acknowledged the excesses of his lifestyle and lyrics - but poured scorn on the wilder reports that he was an actual devil-worshipper. "I've done some bad things in my time. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time," he said in a 2010 biography. John Michael Osbourne was the fourth of six children. Growing up in Aston, Birmingham, in central England, he struggled with dyslexia, left school at age 15, did a series of menial jobs, and at one point served a brief prison sentence for burglary. Then came Black Sabbath. "When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of 60, with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and California, I wouldn't have put money on me, no fucking way," he once said. Britain's Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, a member of parliament representing a Birmingham constituency, wrote on X that she was devastated to hear the news of his death. "One of the greatest gifts my city gave the world," Mahmood said. In 2002, Osbourne won legions of new fans when he starred in U.S. reality TV show "The Osbournes". Cameras followed the aging rock god ambling round his huge house in Beverly Hills, pronouncing on events in his heavy Birmingham accent and looking on bemused at the antics of his family. Osbourne's family included wife and manager Sharon, five children including Jack, Kelly and Aimee, and several grandchildren. No cause of death was given, but Osbourne revealed in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The illness made him unable to walk. In his final concert on July 5 in Birmingham, Osbourne performed sitting, at times appearing to have difficulties speaking as he thanked thousands of adoring fans, some of whom were visibly emotional. Osbourne's performance followed a number of tributes on stage and on stadium screens from rock and pop royalty including Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Metallica's James Hetfield and Elton John. "Thanks for your support over the years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you," said Osbourne.
