Chris Hemsworth Googled now-wife Elsa Pataky before their first date
Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth were just two hopeful actors living in LA when their dialect coach insisted they meet. Now the Hollywood power couple call Byron Bay home and have the key to happiness sorted.
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Elsa Pataky grew up in Spain, and now lives in Byron Bay with her family.
She studied journalism, but she’s made a living on screen and is married to fellow actor Chris Hemsworth.
As she was shooting a TV ad for Swisse, we spoke about changing surnames, strong mothers, the key to parenting, blind dates, Chris as a father and what lies ahead.
HM: Elsa Lafuente Medianu. But that’s not how people know you?
EP: No, that’s my Spanish name. We actually have two surnames as one, which is weird — your mum’s and your dad’s. My grandfather was a theatre actor and I admired him so I started
to act as well. I thought, “You have to have something that really sounds different”, and my grandma’s surname in Spanish was a little different, so I took it from her and I love it. Pataky
— it’s actually Hungarian but everybody think it’s Greek.
HM: Obviously you are very close to your grandmother. Your mum, Cristina, was also a great influence in your life.
EP: She’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. She is amazing at dealing with complicated and challenging situations. She just keeps going, you know, and is always positive, trying to be happy and enjoying life as much as she could even when it was really hard. Her strength in life is inspiring.
HM: She moved to a country to be a young wife with no language, in Spain.
EP: That was her first big challenge, she came to Spain and just didn’t know any words, she started from zero. She now speaks five languages.
HM: You both grew up watching Katharine Hepburn — did she inspire you to act?
EP: Well, yeah, partly. But the main reason I became an actress was my grandfather, who was a theatre actor and Romanian. He was always just joking and playing with us and playing dress up. And then my mum one day told me he “dresses up for living”. I couldn’t believe it and I was like, “Well, I want to be like him, I want to do that!”
HM: And Hepburn?
EP: Mum and I started watching movies together and one of her favourites was Katharine Hepburn. I also loved her movies and I know she was a really strong woman doing what she wanted at that time. In that glamorous world she was always wearing pants, and her strength, until she died — she had such an amazing life — was very independent.
HM: You wanted to act. But your father said no.
EP: Yeah, you know in that time he was a bit like, “What is that? Can you make money doing that?” He was just scared that I wouldn’t have something safe to live off.
HM: So you studied?
EP: I did, and while I was studying I was really trying trying trying to get an acting job. I was going to castings, but getting nowhere and one day I was like, “That’s it, I don’t want to do this acting thing any more”. I had my journalism degree, so I thought I’d go with that option. And then you know, when you let go of things, it seems that’s when things happen. I was like “OK, I’m done, I’m not going to do anymore castings” but then they called me for another casting and I was like, “I don’t want it”, but I still went, and that was it, I was cast in a show in Spain.
HM: And everything changed?
EP: Yes — it was a big TV series in Spain that became really popular and yeah, it was the beginning.
HM: Would you have been a good journalist?
EP: I wonder. I wanted to be a war journalist. I’ve always challenged myself. I loved trouble and challenging myself in every way, I thought it would be interesting. And I didn’t want to be just doing interviews — my dream was to always travel around the world, so I thought that would have been a good way to do it. Who knows!
HM: You’ve been all around the world. You get married to Chris, live in LA, but then you end up in Byron Bay.
EP: Can you imagine the difference! I grew up in a big city in the centre surrounded by buildings and roads and cars and for some reason, I dunno, my heart I think is just more into nature. The feeling of the air and the wildlife. At the time I felt kind of trapped in the city, but you know with work and everything, we ended up in LA. So, yeah, when we had kids I hoped I could give my kids what I didn’t have. It was my dream and I think Chris felt the same so, we were like, “Where shall we live?” We started to just figure out places and he mentioned Byron. When I came for the first time to visit Australia I loved it and I was like, “This is a very good idea!”
HM: You talk about loving being outside — is this where you are happiest? Horse, under the tree and nothing but beautiful views?
EP: It is, it’s kind of my dream come true. That’s really, all my life. I started riding maybe when I was 14 and I got obsessed with it, and I started imagining having my own horse. So the first pay cheque of the show that I had, I went and bought my own horse. I dreamt of having my own property one day, with my own horse. And so, my career dreams were always about my acting and what I wanted to achieve in acting, but my lifestyle dream was this … and I didn’t know how to combine both. But it has all come to be — I have my family, my horse and we live in this wonderful part of the world.
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HM: Chris loves the surf, you love being on a horse. How does it make you feel?
EP: Well you know that feeling — you are a rider too. That freedom that it gives you … always when you are passionate about something it’s just that feeling of you and your animal.
HM: Feeds the soul.
EP: Exactly. I just read that Churchill said that “Every person has to have a list to harvest in life”. If you have a hobby that you love, it’s a good way of escaping from everything else. You just focus.
HM: In the moment?
EP: Yes, exactly, in the moment. Which is what we are learning to be through mindfulness.
HM: What’s the secret?
EP: Well, it’s very difficult. We’ve all become so busy, surrounded by the devices we all have — it makes us not be in the present. You’ll be talking to somebody and then a message comes and you get distracted. That’s terrible! I was in Paris recently. I used to just be in the car and just look out the windows and fall in love with Paris and just take it all in. It’s so beautiful, but I realised now I just get on the phone. It was sunny and we were passing all the buildings, and the Eiffel Tower and it was like … “Oh God, why I am missing this!”
HM: You speak about your children with a big smile — what’s changed for you since kids?
EP: Oh, it’s wonderful — the biggest change in my life — I didn’t expect it to be like that! I think motherhood is the best thing in the world, but one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life too. I was like a totally independent person and did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Not anymore!
HM: Them first — everything else second!
EP: I thought when I had kids they would just fit into my life! And when they sleep, you can just do whatever you want. But, actually no! They do give me the most amazing feeling and the biggest love in my life though.
HM: Did you think you could love something so much?
EP: No — no way! I had kids pretty late and I enjoyed myself. I’m very independent and like travelling, and I never felt tied to anything or anybody. Suddenly, you have kids and I feel so unhappy and so guilty when I’m away from them! It’s a nice guilt, because I know they need me. Even if I’m enjoying this moment, I know I’ll be happier with them!
HM: Amazing that you are shaping young humans.
EP: Exactly — it’s such a big responsibility, more than anything in the world. I love it, but it’s hard work and it’s made me change a lot of things about my personality too. They’re going to be whatever you teach them, that’s what they are going to be … what a responsibility!
HM: What’s the hardest part about being a mother?
EP: Ah, keeping your patience! If you can remain patient — all is okay. (Breathe, breathe). Particularly in those moments where you almost lose it!
HM: Are you the disciplinarian?
EP: Mmm, neither of us are really. We aren’t really strict parents. But it’s funny, we do try, because we realise how crazy kids can be. If you don’t have rules it can get tricky. I think now that they are getting older, we are just like, “Oh — we need to have rules in place and be strict!” It’s like, I’m not going to give you that!” But five minutes later I’m giving it to them, and other parents are like, “Elsa — that’s so bad!” I know you can’t do that. I’m learning, I’m learning.
HM: Chris a good dad?
EP: He is an amazing dad! That was one of the things that made me fall for him. I saw him with his little niece who’s now a little older, and I saw the amazing dad he could be, and you can see that in somebody with how much they care with little kids and how much attention they give them. So, I thought he would be the best dad. And he is! He is all the time helping since they were babies. There were some times when it was full on but he was changing nappies, but there’s no problem leaving him alone with them. He loves it, he loves that responsibility. I’d ask, “Do you want somebody to help? He’d say, “Nope nope, I’ll do it by myself”. But me, I’d just ring people like my mum and ask for help. But he would be like, “Nup I’m doing this by myself”. He loves it, he really loves being a dad and he’s enjoying it so much.
HM: A dialect coach suggested that you and Chris should meet?
EP: Yes, we had a blind date. Our dialect coach was so insistent we meet, and then Chris Googled me! And I was like I didn’t google you, I just saw a photo of you.
HM: You didn’t know who he was at the time did you?
EP: No no no, absolutely not, he was another hopeful actor in LA. We just saw each other’s photos. I saw his photo, and I was like, “Yeah, I could meet him, I’ll call him”.
HM: You said he googled you though?
EP: Yeah — she showed him my photo, and then he googled me, so he knew everything. I was like, “That’s horrible!”. The dialect coach insisted we go on a blind date without knowing each other, and I remember him calling me with a really strong accent, a beautiful voice, but I couldn’t understand a word, so I said, “Hmm yeah, just text me. Text me and yeah, we’ll meet wherever you want”, it was so funny.
HM: An insistent dialect coach and a blind date … three kids later …
EP: Yeah … that was the start of our relationship and I think my accent was really strong too, so he probably didn’t understand what I was saying either! Maybe that’s why we are so good together, maybe we don’t understand each other that much. But yeah, it was funny, in the beginning, our communication was complicated.
HM: What’s the key to happiness for you?
EP: Oh, what is the key? The simple things, I think. My thing is just enjoying every second whether I’m working or not. Try and do what you like, ideally what you love. Day to day, since we live really close to the ocean, just having the opportunity to wake up and get the kids to enjoy the ocean before going to school is just amazing and makes me very happy. It is very simple.
HM: Quick ones to finish before we let you go. What is the one trait of yours that annoys Chris?
EP: My stubbornness. My goal is to never give up with anything, never, never give up.
HM: What has Chris taught you?
EP: He’s taught me to be more patient and to try and open my mind to new things. I learn so much from him.
HM: Ironically you got a Thor tattoo on your arm at 15 — long before you met Chris. If you got a 007 tatt instead, do you think you would be married to Daniel Craig?
EP: Hahaha — I wonder what would have happened! Many things I dream of come true … such odd things have happened in my life that I’m surprised they’ve actually happened. I wonder how it’s all connected? I feel like there are energies in the world and … some things are meant to be.
HM: Last one, where do you want to be in 10 or 15, 20 years?
EP: I wish to just be surrounded by my kids when they are older, who are healthy and happy. Just to be surrounded with as much family and happiness as you can have around.
For more interviews and behind-the-scenes videos and photos, go to swisse.com
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