In retrospect, I do think it was probably for the best when Chris Hemsworth suddenly moved his young family out of LA and back to Australia. Before that move, his wife Elsa Pataky was a regular on celebrity blogs, fashion blogs and across entertainment/gossip media. She loved to be photographed and she loved to do interviews and she loved to get attention. I thought, at the time, that the move to Australia would be detrimental to their marriage because Elsa would be so unhappy. But she stayed with him and I think he got her some work in the Australian film/TV industry too. Elsa chatted with an Australian outlet, Body + Soul, about her life now and fitness and her ten-year marriage to Chris. Some highlights:
She doesn’t like feeling soft: “If I’m not exercising, I don’t feel strong. I feel soft and I don’t like it. I am a very active person. I want my body to stay young – in strength and energy. I want to still go horseriding with my daughter when I’m 80!”
Her obsession with fitness came from watching the Olympics: “I was in awe of the fit, athletic body and my whole life became about exercise. I’ve never stopped since I was 14. I just fell in love with being healthy and fit.”
She loved the LA fitness scene: “I learnt so much about health and fitness in Los Angeles. They were much more advanced in LA than in Spain.”
She & Chris share a love of fitness: “We love to do sports, eat healthy and move our bodies. We’ve got the kids into surfing. Any hobbies to get them outside, and not on social media and computers. My daughter has been horseriding with me since she was two-and-a-half.”
On her pregnancies: “I had to slow down during my pregnancies and I couldn’t exercise as hard as I wanted,” she says. But the physical changes that came with carrying a child paled in comparison to the mental impact of motherhood. “I remember feeling a bit lost when I had India. I thought my life was going to be the same [when I had kids] and I would keep working. But I couldn’t. Chris would come home and say, ‘How was your day?’ And I didn’t feel proud to say: I’m just a mum. But you should. Because it’s the hardest but greatest job in the world.”
Devoting herself to motherhood: “I really liked being with the kids. I wanted to take them to school and pick them up every day. I just love that moment. I didn’t grow up with my parents [around] and I missed that so much, so I wanted to give that to my kids… I love acting, but having balance is important to me. So, if something comes along that fits into my life and lets me work close to home, then I’m happy to do it.”
Her tenth wedding anniversary is coming up: “It’s funny that people think of us as a perfect couple. No way. It’s been ups and downs, and we still keep working at the relationship. I think a relationship is constant work. It’s not easy.” But true to form, Pataky says any struggles they’ve encountered have only made their union stronger. “I always try to see the positives of things.”
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I felt like I detected some wistfulness, especially when she talked about LA being more advanced about fitness and exercise. Sure, she’s happy with her life in Australia and she rides her horses and surfs and has a beach view. But she could have had that in Malibu, plus she could have pap strolled all the time. I don’t know. It also feels like Elsa is just ride-or-die too – I absolutely believe that she and Chris have had some major ups and downs, and there was one point where I was pretty convinced that he checked out of the marriage in a major way. But Elsa stuck with it. They both did.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.
Do people think they have the perfect marriage? ‘Checked out’ is a kind way of putting it.
Lol! When I read her comment, I thought, “bold of you to assume that’s what we think, but okay.”
You’re definitely reading into it too much. Considering the LA lifestyle, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of any place as far as fitness. One trainer once stated that LA is oversaturated with fitness professionals; unfortunately some are just not good so I can see with her coming from Spain that she would be overwhelmed and if she’s a fitness nut, very overjoyed.
I agree she is ride or die.
I thought he wanted the stay at home wife happy to raise the kids, and she wasn’t too thrilled. But then she accepted it, and so they stuck with it.
But I always got the married for life vibe from him. Like, he may step out discretely, but he wants the stable family too.
I wonder if they have an open arrangement, where they don’t mind if one another has a little (quiet) side action, so long as they always come back to the family.
Well, this interview convinces me that Chris and I would never be able to make it work – too much physical fitness. 😀
Omg! This is hilarious. I agree- too much working out but otherwise we’d totally be a fit. 🙂
Thanks for making me spit coffee through my nose 😆😆😆😆
I get it, that’s how he makes his living, looking good and being fit, but no thanks.
So much working out… too much working out. 🙂
they are such a (physically) gorgeous couple. I don’t know much about her or their marriage, but they seem to be a good fit.
She’s had some plastic surgery, nose etc., but it’s well done and she looks really beautiful.
The Hemsworth men seem Uber traditional.
Yup, totally Lyft traditional 🙂
That’s why it was never gonna work out with Miley.
But I’m super traditional too when it comes to marriage, so I get it.
Same interview she has given for years. Looking forward to reading the exact. same. interview with her for the next 10-15 years. Fitness. Famous Husband. No I’m happy just being a mother. No really! I have a famous husband you know! Cling to “fame“ a little harder? Yawn.
Unless he REALLY gets indiscreet there won’t be any divorce in the future. But I hope they’ve dropped the line about moving for their privacy. Good lord they live hours from major Australian cities and I know/see more of their kids then Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Ryan Gosling’s in LA….combined.
I think she envisioned a celebrity wife life for herself with some intermitten work here and there but Chris wanted a more cozy, non celebrity family life.
So I’m not surprised to here there have been some struggles along the way. Their careers have changed drastically over the years. Add in kids and scenery changes and it would be strange if they didn’t have ups and downs.
She was actually pretty famous in a soap opera way in Spain long before him. So I’m guessing celebrity wife was a step down. I have always thought her to be pretty. I like she admits to ups & downs & he is a v v pretty boy & I’m sure it can’t be easy knowing women will toss themselves in his path.
But we all know, I’m partial to the horse girls
I don’t think there’s anything wrong if she wanted to be papped and have acting jobs. I think she fit herself into a square hole for him and I don’t think he’s all that. Although to be clear, I don’t think any person is enough to be something you aren’t for. But he certainly provides a beautiful life for her. Is it a fulfilling one for her desires? Perhaps not completely. I don’t think she should be faulted for that.
This is a very thoughtful comment. She married a movie star and then had to be content without the movie star wife’s life. She has the money but not the glitz. Wouldn’t blame her for being a little wistful for what could’ve been.
Sorry – has he cheated on her in the past? Totally missed that.
Some people seem to assume that like it’s a given, I guess because he’s so attractive and famous? Or maybe because she’s older than him? But no there have never been any actual rumors or allegations that I’m aware of.
It has been commented on this site regarding seeing him at a club in London where he was canoodling with beautiful women; the club is known for keeping things on the downlow for celebrities, as the poster said.
They’re very attractive. It was also a wise choice to move back to Australia. Hell I’d like to move to Australia.
They are both so pretty. Of course, we know “pretty is as pretty does”. I hope they do well.
I don’t have any shade for Elsa today. It’s hard being a partner and a mother. I have my own needs as well.
Sh did have some sort of career in the states as an actress, maybe not a great one- but she had name recognition for a moment. She gave it up for Chris , so I would expect her to miss her old life from tome to time
Honestly, I did not realize that they’ve been married for 10 years. A decade is nothing to scoff at. She’s right; relationships aren’t easy and they take constant work so I have no shade.
Same! I know they’ve been married for some time, but not for a whole decade.
I know it’s a fitness mag and everything but could she have possibly been any more boring?!?
Honestly, no shade here. She sounds honest but not over the top about the fact that relationships take work, about loving being a mother but not always feeling proud of it at first. I quite like what she said about how projects need to be close to home for her and fit into her life in order to accept them, because her parents weren’t around and she wants to be there for her children. She sounds like a good mom.
I never understood the animosity against Elsa. She was thirsty? I thought that being ambitious is a good thing in the US. Also what do you expect of an actor in Hollywood? She moved all the way there (which is harder than one might think, especially having some success in her own country), to a place with no friends, no family, different language, different culture, and she’s supposed to lay low instead of trying to give it all and play the game to make it worth the sacrifice? Isn’t others like Jennifer Garner also doing regular pap strolls but not getting the same reaction? Is that fair? And she gave all that up to keep her family together and still gets criticized. Should she renounce to every bit of recognition even now? Lose her sense of self prior to marrying Chris? She took or agreed to a decision to put her career on hold to be with him, but does that mean that she’s not allowed to have some melancholy about leaving behind her old dreams even if she doesn’t regret her life now and tries to see the positives? Are we all robots here only able to see black and white, or can we have empathy for fellow human beings with all their strengths and weaknesses? Some comments feel so judgemental…
Exactly this Palmasan – exactly this!!!
She’s made comments in the past about what a big star she is / was and she’s not and never was, even in Spain. She was mostly famous for dating Adrien Brody (who, as a aside, looks exactly like her brother to the point to weirdness) and then made sure to get papped with Olivier Martinez and a bunch of guys she dated in a very short period of time between Brody and Hemsworth and has given a lot of interviews of the “you know, I wasn’t sure about Chris but he pursued me” variety. They met, she blew him off and then got back with him after he booked Thor. It’s less that there is something wrong with her and more that she doesn’t seem to realize her position is more based on her connection to him than anything and she talks about herself like she’s accomplished a lot and she’s #goals- the press tour she did for her book last year was mostly her talking about Chris because there wasn’t much else to say and the book is the same advice that everyone gives everywhere. She is gorgeous though.
If you look at their Instagram accounts it seems clear they….give each other a lot of space. If someone told me they had been living together only for their kids for the last nine months I would not be shocked.
I agree. I actually quite like Elsa.
Basically, Elsa is an extremely savvy personality. She was a communications major at the university before pursuing acting. Her mother is a publicist. And she is an ACTRESS. With that background, she is very clever in what she says. She had a career in Spain in soap operas. She did films that were extremely low budgeted. Unlike Penelope Cruz who is a major star, married with kids to a famous actor, Elsa failed to become a major star. She literally had to move with Chris. What fame does she have without him? That is why she can only talk about kids, hubby,
and exercising.
I think animosity ties to her past actions. She dated Adrian Brody who bought a castle for her. She met Chris via some language coach. Stuff like that.
I used to love exercise but in my 30s I had to make room for changes in health and energy. After I had abdominal surgery, I could never do the things I did before. I admire her ethic but it’s also coming from a place of extreme privilege, good genes, and obvious wealth.
I’m getting Elizabeth Chambers vibs here in that ot seems like they are struggling(or maybe separated)but she makes it seem like they got over it. I dont know, I hope am wrong. For the kids sake. But there’s no point of sacrificing your life for someone else if you dont believe in it!!!
She had work work they were living in LA(I know her from fast & furious). Ever since they moved she only makes the odd appearances in talk shows and gets invited to Australian events. I bet she regrets being away from LA scene. At least there she would be mingling with Alisters every week and probably getting gigs.
She wasn’t getting that much work before she got together with Hemsworth- the Fast and Furious movies were about it and she was already 38 when they moved to Australia, I don’t think she was going to get much else at that point, particularly with the really strong (but lovely) accent that she has. There was a rumor she wanted to do RHOBH and another rumor that she was trying to do Playboy and he shut both things down, no idea if either rumor was true. Then as now, most of her magazine cover articles were about her relationships, not about her roles. But moving to Byron took the pressure off of her on the “and what are you up to?” front as well. He has said in interviews that he felt like all anyone in LA cared about was what their next job was, that is even worse for people who are married to someone who is getting a lot of work or getting high-profile, highly compensated work (as he was/is) but isn’t working themselves.
I agree. I think she’s bored in Byron Bay. She always got coverage and work in Spain and LA, even if it wasn’t A-list stuff. I’ve always like Elsa and Chris; they seemed solid so this surprises me. Why are people talking like he’s been caught cheating? Did I miss out on a major celeb scandal? Also she promotes herself; that’s not a bad thing. They don’t post their kids’ faces on IG, am I right? Anyway, I hope these two last the distance.
Is she a good actress?
I don’t know if I have shared this story here before, but when I was pregnant with my daughter, we lived not too far from the Hemsworths (we have since moved a little further North). I was at a cattle call doctor appointment at the local hospital, and the doctor I had that day (always a different doctor at these mass appointments) was very chatty and nice and it came up that my partner was an actor (in the context of him always trying to be in the attention spotlight, even when I was giving birth) and my doctor just assumed it was Chris Hemsworth.
At the time I was so shocked and denied it heartily, but this did seem to encourage the doctor more, who asked for an autograph.
So, yes, I hadn’t ever heard any rumblings of Chris being a cheater, but I guess they were out there enough for this doctor to assume he had a whole other family up the road.
Wow that’s a great story! Thank you for sharing it. 🙂