Elsa Pataky turns 45! Her journey to Hollywood, life with Chris Hemsworth, and childhood photos

The actress, model and mother is celebrating her birthday today. It is hard to believe that this beautiful woman is already 45 years old! Join us as we take a look at  her journey to Hollywood glamour and family life with Chris Hemsworth.

Elsa Pataky was born in the outskirts of Madrid, the bustling capital of Spain, on July 18 1976. Now, she's living in a luxurious mansion near the beach of Byron Bay with her husband, Australian superstar Chris Hemsworth.

Pictured: Elsa as a child with her mother.

(Instagram@elsapatakyconfidential)

She's been an actress and model for more than two decades. Her romance with Chris Hemsworth has already lasted more than 11 years. Time flies!

(Instagram@elsapatakyconfidential)

The couple have a beautiful mansion near the sea in Byron Bay, not far from Sydney. Its estimated worth is $20 million.

They have three children: India Rose (2012, on this photo), and the twins Tristan and Sasha (2014).

(Instagram@elsapatakyconfidential)

Elsa Pataky came from far, but she had always known she wanted to be famous. Let's have a look at her earliest beginnings and the many changes the actress went through over the years.

Elsa Pataky was born in Spain under the name Elsa Lafuente Medianu. Her father was a Spanish biochemist and her mother a Romanian publicist. The name Pataky she took from her maternal grandmother.

(Instagram@elsapatakyconfidential)

Elsa's maternal grandfather was an actor, and from a young age the girl insisted that she would be an actress too. Here we see a still from one of her earliest TV roles.

Elsa Pataky always wanted to be famous. She had studied Journalism and taken acting classes before her breakthrough on national TV.

In 1997, at age 21, Elsa made her debut on Spanish television in the teenage drama 'Al salir de clase' ('After school').

In the years that followed, she appeared in several Spanish productions and became a national star. Among others, she starred in the TV drama 'Hospital Central' in 2000 and the sitcom 'Los Serrano' ('The Serranos') in 2004.

Her appearance changed along with her status: not only the colour of her hair (as you can see in the movie 'El arte de morir' / 'The art of dying' in 2000), but also the contours of her face.

Meanwhile, Pataky was also looking across the borders to start an international career.

'Queen of Swords' was Elsa's first international adventure. Made in Canada, it depicted a Spanish pueblo in nineteenth-century California where passion and violence drove the weekly plot. The series flopped, however, and it did not even air all of its planned episodes.

The Spanish-American production 'Beyond Re-Animator' was a horror film that helped Pataky become more and more of an international star.

Shortly after filming 'Beyond Re-Animator,' she would move to Los Angeles and make a name for herself in Hollywood.

Elsa Pataky got media attention for both her acting and her dating life. She went out for a long time with the motorcyclist Fonsi Nieto (photo) and then with actors like Michaël Youn and Olivier Martínez.

'Romasanta,' also known as 'Werewolf Hunt,' was a cooperation between Spanish, Italian, and British producers. Pataky plays Barbara, a woman whose romantic interest is a man with a dark secret (the title gives a clue).

Elsa Pataky caught the international spotlights with 'Snakes on a Plane.' In the epic movie with protagonist Samuel L. Jackson, Pataky plays a passenger who bravely saves the life of a child by sucking the snake venom out of its wound.

European cinema continued to attract her, though, and in 2007 she appeared in the Italian production 'Manual of Love 2'. The Spanish actress shared the screen with the Italian legend Monica Bellucci. Her look for this film was refreshingly different: long dark hair with bangs.

While her name became better known in other markets, Elsa Pataky continued filming in her native Spain. In 2008, she appeared in the sensual thriller 'Santos' ('Saints').

By that time, Elsa Pataky had been dating the American moviestar Adrien Brody for a few years.

From 2006 to 2009, they were one of the hottest couples in Hollywood and New York - the city where they spent much of their time. It seemed really serious - he even bought her a castle!

But then, in 2009, the couple shocked everyone by calling it quits. After the extensive publicity for their romantic castle, it was quite a juicy break-up story for the media. Adrien Brody still has his residence in Stone Barn Castle according to the documentary with the same name.

Pataky played in one of her last Spanish productions with the film 'Di Di Hollywood' directed by Bigas Luna. The topic of the film - an actress moving abroad to make it internationally - seemed tailor-made for Elsa Pataky. It was a period in which her life was to change dramatically.

'Di Di Hollywood' premiered in the same year that Pataky started dating the Australian actor Chris Hemsworth. Later she would reveal that they kissed for the first time in February 2010 while watching 'Avatar' in a cinema.

Not even a year later, the couple got married. They had a secret ceremony in Melbourne in December 2010.

The media were stunned. It was a very fast-moving relationship and also a couple with quite a difference in age. Elsa was 34 and Chris 27, and they were in different stages of their acting careers.

In 2011, Elsa Pataky got on board of the highly successful franchise of the Fast and the Furious. 'Fast Five' would be her first of three movies in the action saga.

A year after the release of 'Furious Five,' in May 2012, Pataky had her first child with Chris Hemsworth: their daughter India Rose.

Married life was not always easy, she admits to 'Elle Australia.' Chris and Elsa were in different stages of their careers. While hers was consolidated, his was just taking off.

She recalls in 'Elle' that when they met, Chris had only just made his Hollywood debut after years in the Australian series 'Home and Away.' That international debut was in 2009 with 'Star Trek.'

"He was very young to be starting a family," Pataky says. "And at the same time he was juggling that with his career. It was sometimes difficult, there was so much going on."

Meanwhile, Elsa continued to appear in Hollywood productions; for example in the crime thriller 'All Things to All Men.' She shared the poster with Gabriel Byrne and Rufus Sewell.

In the same year, the actress announced that she was pregnant again. Their twins Tristan and Sasha were born in March 2014.

Chris Hemsworth revealed in 'GQ Australia' that the early years with Elsa Pataky had been like a whirlwind. He was very busy with his movie career.

"My wife and I fell in love, had kids, didn't really see each other for a few years, then fell back in love," he said. They tried to organize dates like this one on the beach in Byron Bay.

... or at a party on the island of Ibiza in Spain. Before the pandemic, the couple moved around between Europe, the US, and Australia on a regular basis.

In 2018, Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth appeared in a movie together. It was the drama '12 Strong' about the American war in Afghanistan.

"Working with Chris is great because, really, I think that together we get the best out of each other," the actress told 'Hello' magazine. The professional challenge is bigger when he's your partner," she added, "but I'd do it again."

Elsa Pataky has appeared in fewer films and TV series since the twins were born. One of her most recent appearances was in the Netflix series 'Tidelands' in 2018. Chris revealed to 'GQ' that "in terms of work, Elsa has certainly given up more than I have."

Will she star in another film with her husband? Or will she continue to follow her own path in the movie industry, as she has done for the past two decades?

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