I’m usually fascinated by stories about wealthy and super-famous people who hang out with each other. That’s why when former Rolling Stone editor Jenn Wenner wrote about a party once hosted by longtime Hollywood couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, my interest was aroused. Especially when I found out that icons like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Springsteen were involved.
I don’t often think about the fact that the Boss can be in the same room with the Terminator, but at least once it happened. While preparing the scene, Venner shared that there were a lot of distinguished guests in the park that Hanks and Wilson keep, not limited to Bruce and Patti Springsteen, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, although these couples are important for this story. In fact, it was the singer of “Glory Days” who told a story that was so impressive that it silenced the entire table at a dinner party.
In his memoir Like a Rolling Stone, Wenner wrote (via page six) that Springsteen told a story about sharing his life with another that was so thoughtful that the whole room listened with delight. The moral he ended up with was this:
After you get married, there will be another person with whom you should be attentive and share your life with [as] an equal.
It seems to have been an impressive moment, as Venner described the room in silence after the story was told. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger who brought everything back to a carefree mood, jokingly telling his then-wife Maria Shriver: “It’s time to go, Maria! Heel!” (It seems to be a signature move for the actor of the “End of Days”, who allegedly once deliberately farted in the face of a colleague in the film.)
Of course, it’s also worth noting that Bruce Springsteen is still married to Patti, his second wife, to whom he has been married since 1991. On the other hand, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver had a high-profile divorce, which ended only in 2021. They broke up after it was confirmed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a child with a housekeeper. Their son Joseph Baena was born in 1997.
It’s also worth noting that, although I wouldn’t have guessed about the dinner table with Schwarzenegger and Springsteen, Tom Hanks and the singer have maintained a friendship over the years. The actor was there when the “Born to Run” singer played at Madison Square Garden in 2009. In 2017, he also gave a Q&A at the Tribeca Film Festival with the singer, among other notable occasions when they were seen together in public. He once even told the CinemaBlend ReelBlend podcast that it was Bruce Springsteen’s song that made the moment in Philadelphia so iconic.
Maria Shriver and Rita Wilson have also been friends for many years, and Wilson calls Shriver his “Scorpio sister.” The two have also been on panels about women in Hollywood over 50 and older. So, with these connections in mind, it’s easy to understand how they all ended up at a dinner party together, even if the singer and actor’s views on things seem completely different. Although it is worth noting that Arnold Schwarzenegger became more thoughtful when he turned 75.
