I’m generally fascinated by stories of the well-to-do and über famous hanging out with one another. Which is why when former Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner wrote about a party longtime Hollywood It couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson once threw, my interest was piqued. Particularly once I knew icons like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Springsteen were involved.
I don’t often think about the possibility of The Boss being in the same room with The Terminator, but it happened at least once. Setting the stage, Wenner shared that a park Hanks and Wilson held included a slew of esteemed guests, not limited to Bruce and Patti Springsteen and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, though those couples are important to this story. In fact, it was the “Glory Days” singer who told a story that was impactful enough it silenced the entire table at the 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 the entire room listened enraptured. he moral he ended on was this:
Once you get married, there’s another person you have to be considerate of and share your life with [as] your equal.
It seems to have been an impactful moment, as Wenner described a room in silence after the story was told. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger who brought things back down to a lighthearted mood, jokingly telling his then-wife Maria Shriver, “Time to go Maria! Heel!’ (A seemingly on-brand move for the End of Days actor, who allegedly once farted in a co-star’s face, on purpose.)
Of course it’s also worth noting that Bruce Springsteen is still married to Patti, his second wife, with whom he has been wed to since 1991. On the other hand, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver had a high-profile divorce that only wrapped in 2021. They split after it was confirmed Schwarzenegger had fathered a child with a household staff member. Their son, Joseph Baena, had been born in 1997.
Also worth noting is that while I wouldn’t have guessed a dinner table with both Schwarzenegger and Springsteen, Tom Hanks and the singer have had a supportive friendship over the years. The actor was there when the “Born to Run” singer played Madison Square Garden in 2009. In 2017, he also did a Tribeca Film Festival Q&A with the singer, among other notable times they’ve been seen in public together. He once even told CinemaBlend’s podcast ReelBlend how it was a Bruce Springsteen song that made a Philadelphia moment so iconic.
Maria Shriver and Rita Wilson are have also been friendly for years, with Wilson calling Shriver her “Scorpio sister.” The two have also been on panels about being women in Hollywood over 50 and more. So, with these connections in mind, it’s easy to see how they all ended up at a dinner party together even if the singer and actor’s perspectives on things seem quite different. Though it is worth noting Arnold Schwarzenegger has grown more thoughtful as he’s turned 75.