The Stunning Transformation Of Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt
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Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt is a best-selling author, philanthropist, and lifestyle influencer who has paved her own path despite her high-profile upbringing. She was, after all, born into Hollywood and U.S. royalty. Her parents are actor dad Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist mom Maria Shriver, who is a Kennedy.
Katherine Schwarzenegger started making a name for herself when she published her debut book while studying at the University of Southern California (per USA Today). Since then, she's enjoyed an illustrious career in publishing and nonprofit work, serving as an ambassador for various nonprofits like the Special Olympics.
While she appears to live a glam life with red carpet appearances and is married to "Jurassic World" movie star Chris Pratt, Schwarzenegger Pratt's path hasn't always been what Hollywood dreams are made of. She's experienced insecurities and obstacles like anyone else — from body image issues to the pressures of growing up in the spotlight. Here is the stunning transformation of Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt.
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt enjoyed a normal childhood despite having famous parents
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt grew up in the spotlight as the eldest daughter of "Terminator" actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, TV journalist and member of the Kennedy family. Despite her high-profile upbringing, she enjoyed a normal childhood, as she told People in 2017. "My parents raised the four of us kids to have a very normal upbringing and a normal childhood. ... We didn't go to red carpet things all the time," she told the mag.
On Instagram, she has shared glimpses of her childhood in throwback photos. One photo showed the entire Schwarzenegger gang dressed up for Halloween back in the day, and another photo showed her on horseback with her mom.
Though Schwarzenegger Pratt enjoyed a normal childhood, she still had to deal with parents' fame, of course. Her dad gave a speech during her high school graduation in 2008, while her mom gave the commencement speech during her graduation from the University of Southern California, per The Washington Post. She also dealt with the public separation of her parents after news came out that her dad had an affair with a member of their household staff and fathered a child, according to the Los Angeles Times.
She found writing therapeutic as a child
As a child, future best-selling author Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt wrote and kept journals. In an interview with the Associated Press in 2020, she said she found writing to be a kind of therapy but didn't necessarily see herself writing books for a living as an adult.
"If you had asked me when I was 10 years old if I would be writing books, I don't know that I would say that, but I think it's been such a blessing for me in my life," she told the outlet, adding, "I've been able to take situations and topics that I have struggled with and have looked at others struggling with and it's driven me to write about these topics to help other people."
Her mom was very much instrumental in her early writing days. While speaking to Girlboss, Schwarzenegger Pratt shared that her journalist mom, Maria Shriver, had her and her siblings write journals following trips. She confessed to the outlet that she hated to write journal entries when she was 8 years old, but she's happy that her mom made her keep those diaries. "Writing has always been a really big part of my life," she said.
She dealt with body image issues as a teen
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt wasn't always the confident woman she appears to be today. She started dealing with body image issues in the fourth grade, and it would continue throughout her teenage years.
"It was the first time I was aware of my body and compared what I looked like to what other girls looked like. It freaked me out," she told USA Today in 2010. Her body image issues continued through middle school. While Schwarzenegger Pratt admitted she didn't have an eating disorder, she still felt like she was competing with other girls when it came to their appearances.
Her close relationship with her parents helped her work through her body image woes. "My mom was always good with me. She always checked in with me. I had the best relationship with my mom. I still do. I talk to her four times a day," she told the outlet. She noted that she enjoys a close relationship with her dad too. "I talk to him about boys, about going out, about what I'm interested in, about business," she said.
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt turned her body image issues into a book
All those years of writing journal entries as a kid paid off for Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt. While attending the University of Southern California, per Teen Vogue, she published her debut book, "Rock What You've Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who's Been There and Back," in 2010. The book was about peer pressure, body image, and self-esteem.
"Rock What You've Got" was inspired by her struggles with body image growing up. In an interview with USA Today, she shared the reason as to why she decided to write the book. "I want to let girls know they are not alone with the changes and doubts about their body," Schwarzenegger Pratt told the outlet.
According to Harper's Bazaar, "Rock What You've Got" hit the New York Times Best-Seller list. When Schwarzenegger Pratt hit that milestone, she was busy studying communications with a minor in gender studies at USC. However, she took the time to celebrate an achievement that was all her own — unrelated to her family pedigree. "I think doing this book has definitely given me more credibility as my own person," she told the mag.
She didn't like all the attention she received in college
While attending the University of Southern California, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt thought about changing her last name because people would approach her to talk about her famous family. "It's something I deal with every day, and I am hyperconscious about it. When I got to college, people — much more guys than girls because girls don't give a crap about bodybuilding — were coming up to me, and it would automatically jump to a conversation about my dad and weight lifting or how to do a proper bicep curl," she told Harper's Bazaar in 2011. She added, "It's like, 'Do you want to date my father, or do you want to date me?'"
While she was in college, her family made the news after her dad was revealed to have fathered a child with a member of their household staff over a decade earlier, as noted by the Los Angeles Times. That event prompted her parents' separation.
Since her parents had largely shielded her and her siblings from the media, the attention the family received after the scandal broke was shocking to her. She said, "I would go out to lunch, and literally 20 people would come and scream at me. And I'm like, This is so inappropriate; you're trying to provoke me to have an attack and say something crazy."
She turned writing into a career
After becoming a best-selling author with her debut book "Rock What You've Got" and graduating from the University of Southern California, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt released a second book called "I Just Graduated ... Now What?" in 2014. The book was inspired by her time graduating from college and not knowing what she wanted to do.
"I felt like I was the only person in the world who didn't know what I wanted to do," she told Teen Vogue in 2014, adding, "A book like this would have been helpful for me."
After graduating from college and speaking with accomplished people like tennis star Serena Williams and EGOT winner John Legend for her second book, Schwarzenegger Pratt told the mag that she learned how to accept the unknown and not plan so much. "Now I'm more excited about testing the waters in a bunch of different areas," she told the outlet.
She added lifestyle influencer to her resume
Following the success of her first book, "Rock What You've Got," Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt became a lifestyle influencer after launching her blog in 2013, which she announced to fans on Instagram. She posted a photo of her blog's homepage, which featured several topics — everything from style and food to health and advice.
Two years later, in 2015, she relaunched her website, per InStyle. "The goal here is to have a lifestyle site that you not only find helpful and entertaining but also becomes a place you turn to for guidance, community, and a girlfriend vibe," she wrote on her website's first post.
Apart from her website, Schwarzenegger Pratt appeared in several programs like the "Today" show and hosted InStyle's #AskKat video series, on which the best-selling author advised viewers on everything from food to DIY beauty with the help of an expert in the field.
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt found love with actor Chris Pratt
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt knew "Guardians of the Galaxy" actor Chris Pratt was the one early on in their relationship. While appearing on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2021, she said, "We talk about that a lot because I'm pretty sure we both ... knew right away that this is where our relationship was headed, and we clicked very quickly."
The two started dating in 2018, and they met at church, as Pratt told Extra in 2019. Before he revealed how they met, a rumor that her mom introduced them had spread. A source told People in 2018 that Maria Shriver served as a matchmaker for the two.
Throughout 2018, the famous duo was photographed together by numerous outlets, including TMZ, which caught them trick-or-treating on Halloween with Pratt's son Jack and his ex-wife, Anna Faris. They made things Instagram official when Pratt posted a photo collage of the author in honor of her birthday in 2018.
The two wasted no time in getting engaged and tying the knot. The couple wed in 2019 after a year of dating. Per People, the intimate wedding ceremony took place in Montecito, California.
She is passionate about many things
Besides writing, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt has a number of passions. She served as a brand ambassador for Pedigree and the ASPCA (per her official website), and she's said her love of dogs goes back to her childhood. "I've grown up around dogs and loved dogs my whole life," she told Us Weekly in 2019.
She also spoke about her own dog, whom she adopted after fostering. "I have one love of my life right now, in the dog area, which is my little Maverick," Schwarzenegger Pratt, who was once a foster mom to seven dogs, said. Maverick inspired her third book, "Maverick and Me," a children's book about a dog who was rescued and later adopted, which was published in 2017.
She's also passionate about the Special Olympics. In 2021, she served as a global ambassador with her actor hubby, Chris Pratt, per a press release on the organization's website.
Her family has played a major role in the organization, which advocates for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. Her grandmother Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics. "Special Olympics has always been a huge part of my life," Schwarzenegger Pratt said in the release, adding, "My childhood consisted of going to SOI events and my cousins and I being camp counselors at Camp Shriver."
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt struggled with forgiveness
Best-selling author Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt writes what she knows, which led to her fourth book — "The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable" — released in 2020.
Ahead of the book's release, she told People that she drew from her own experience with forgiveness and spoke to high-profile names like author and philanthropist Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped as a teen and held captive for nearly a year (via People).
"I found that when you're little, you learn about forgiveness on the playground. But as you get older, it becomes very different and more complex," Schwarzenegger Pratt told People. Though she didn't specify what she's had to forgive in the past, she shared, "For me, personally struggling with forgiveness throughout various stages of my life and really trying to find books that would be able to speak to me in a way that I could relate to, I couldn't find that."
Schwarzenegger Pratt was inspired to write the book following a sermon from her pastor at church, as she told the mag.
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt said faith is a 'huge part' of her marriage
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt is a woman of faith, and that's what has carried her throughout her life.
She grew up as a Catholic and even met her hubby, actor Chris Pratt, at church. Before tying the knot in 2019, Schwarzenegger Pratt confessed on the Dear Media podcast "Meaning Full Living" that they engaged in premarital counseling. "In the Catholic Church, you have to do premarital counseling before you get married, and I was like, 'Oh my god, what is that going to be like?' It was the most amazing thing and just the most amazing gift," she said (via ET), adding that it made the two discuss topics they otherwise wouldn't have discussed before marriage.
Schwarzenegger Pratt told "Fox & Friends" in 2020 that faith is one of the things that bonded her and her husband early on. "[Faith] is a huge part of our relationship and also just a huge part of our lives," she said. She continued, "I grew up with faith being a huge part of my family's life as well."
She looks up to her mom
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt has always enjoyed a close relationship with her mom, powerhouse journalist Maria Shriver, and has sought advice from her on everything from her career to motherhood.
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2011, Schwarzenegger Pratt went into further detail about her relationship with her mom, and she confessed she speaks to multiple times a day. "Even when I was little, I was glued to her all the time. I'm close to my dad, but they're totally different kinds of relationships," she told the mag.
Not only does she enjoy a solid relationship with her mom, but she's also sought her out for career advice. While writing her fourth book, "The Gift of Forgiveness," Schwarzenegger Pratt asked her mom for journalism advice. "My mom was heavily involved. She'll always find something to correct or edit, and I loved having her thoughts on all of that," she told People in 2020.
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt wants to protect her children's privacy
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt welcomed her first child, daughter Lyla Maria, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with hubby Chris Pratt. Since then, she has regularly shared moments with Lyla on Instagram. However, she always hides her daughter's face to maintain her privacy, as she told "Today" in 2021. "One of the greatest gifts that my parents ever gave me and my siblings is the gift of privacy," she told "Today," adding, "So it's something that is really important to my husband and I to give to our kids."
In a post published in early 2021, Schwarzenegger Pratt cradled her baby, whose face remained hidden, for a selfie at the beach with the caption: "Morning beach walks with my little mouse are my favorite."
In 2021, Schwarzenegger Pratt became pregnant with baby No. 2, as People reported. In March 2022, she shared a photo on Instagram of the two baby dolls her daughter had put diapers on. She wrote in the caption, "The latest toddler treats I find around the house ... all her babies and stuffies are wearing diapers and [Band-Aids]. Mamas girl is nesting."
She calls motherhood a blessing
Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt has always wanted to be a mom. In an interview with the "People Every Day" podcast in 2021, Schwarzenegger Pratt said she's not just "blessed" to be a mom, but she's also grateful that she has a supportive husband in Chris Pratt. "To be able to experience it and also experience it with my husband, and she's just the best," she told the outlet, adding, "[Lyla's] changed my life for the better."
She also said she enjoys watching her loved ones take on new roles. "I'm so grateful to be able to experience it and also be able to see my parents step into the role as grandparents, my two brothers as uncles, and my sister as such a hands-on aunt," she shared.
In an Instagram post published in 2021, Schwarzenegger Pratt opened up about motherhood as her baby Lyla turned one year old and said she's loved watching her daughter grow. "Clearly, I have fully embraced the mommy and me matching moments, the girly outfits, the bows and the wonderful things my mom saved for me to pass on to her," she wrote in the caption.