Maria Shriver 'declined' to appear in Arnold Schwarzenegger's new Netflix documentary series, which chronicled his affair with their ex-housekeeper, director says

• The director of "Arnold" said she spoke to Maria Shriver "a few times" while making the docuseries.
• However, she said that when she asked Shriver to participate, she "politely declined" the offer.

The director of "Arnold" explained why Arnold Schwarzenegger's ex-wife, Maria Shriver, does not appear in the docuseries.

The three-part Netflix series, released on June 7, closely examines the Austria native's journey from athlete to actor and American politician. It also delves into his personal life, and the third episode touches on how Schwarzenegger and Shriver's marriage was derailed in 2011 after the bodybuilder came clean about his affair, which resulted in the birth of a secret son.

Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, filmmaker Lesley Chilcott explained that she spoke to Shriver while in the process of making the documentary with Schwarzenegger. "We did talk, we talked a few times," she said.

However, she said when she asked Shriver to participate, she "politely declined" the offer.

Schwarzenegger and Shriver's four children — daughters Katherine, 33, and Christina, 31, and sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 25 — also did not contribute to the series, although Christina does appear on camera at one point in a scene filmed at Schwarzenegger's home in Los Angeles.

Joseph Baena, the son that "The Terminator" star fathered with the family's housekeeper, Mildred "Patty" Baena, in 1996 while he was still married to Shriver, also makes an appearance towards the end of the final installment.

He is seen working out with his father in a gym, although he does not speak on camera either.

Chilcott added that Schwarzenegger was left "emotionally spent" after recounting the painful period in his life that began the day after he left office as Governor of California when Shriver had their marriage counselor ask him whether he was Baena's father.

"It's difficult for him to talk about the affair because he cannot talk about it without someone's feelings getting hurt," Chilcott said. "That was a pretty grave transgression."

"After we talked about it, there wasn't much else we could do that day," she said, adding: "I don't believe he intends to talk about this subject anymore."

In the docuseries, the "Last Action Hero" actor said that even over a decade later, he feels "reluctant" to talk about the scandal, as "every time I do, it opens up the wounds again."

"I think that I have caused enough pain for my family because of my fuck up. Because of that, everyone had to suffer, Maria had to suffer, the kids had to suffer, Joseph, his mother, everyone."

The former Mr. Universe continued: "I am going to have to live with it the rest of my life. People will remember my successes and they will also remember my failures. This is a major failure. I had failures in the past in my career, but this is a whole different ball game, dimension of failure."

Although Shriver filed for divorce soon after their fateful counseling session, the pair did not finalize their divorce until December 2021.