Joseph Baena reveals how he moved past comments about being Arnold Schwarzenegger's son

Joseph Baena may be able to bench a few hundred pounds, but he's had to tap into another kind of strength to go after his dreams.

Because from the time he decided to pursue acting as a career, that meant tuning out the noise he knew was coming.

"I think with anyone that's had a high-succeeding parent, it's just going to be difficult," the 25-year-old told a news outlet in an interview. "People always discredit them, say, 'You only got that because of your parents, you only got that because of X, Y and Z.' It's hard, but it's just something that you have to live with. Know within yourself that if you're putting in the work and you're actually doing it, then none of that should matter."

Of course, "high-succeeding" is a bit of an understatement, Baena's dad being movie star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a brand unto himself. But the youngest child of single mom Mildred Baena was determined to venture into acting under his own steam, even if—as he soon found out—there was no way to actually do so without toting some of that that name-brand baggage with him.

Especially with social media being a convenient place for haters to chime in, the weight of association could feel quite heavy at times.

"It was really bothering me that anytime I would get any kind of role or press, or I would post a physique picture on Instagram, I would always get comments of, 'You're only there because of your dad' or whatever," Baena admitted. "It bothered me at the time."