Elsa Lafuente Medianu, known professionally as Elsa Pataky, is a Spanish model and actress. Pataky is known for her role as Elena Neves in The Fast and the Furious franchise. She has appeared in the films Snakes on a Plane, Giallo and Give 'Em Hell, Malone. She also starred in the Spanish filmDi Di Hollywood.
Early life
Pataky was born Elsa Lafuente Medianu in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of José Francisco Lafuente, a Spanish biochemist, and Cristina Medianu Pataky, a Romanian-born publicist of Romanian and Hungarian ancestry. She has a younger half-brother: Cristian Prieto Medianu, a cinematographic director. She uses the name 'Elsa Pataky' from her maternal grandmother: Rosa Pataky. Pataky attended the Universidad CEU San Pablo, studying journalism and taking acting classes. In addition to Spanish and Romanian, she is fluent in English, Italian, Portuguese, and French.
Career
Pataky was a member of the Madrid theatre company Teatro Cámara de Ángel Gutiérrez. Eventually, she left school when she was cast in the television seriesAl salir de clase. Some of her subsequent films were co-productions with the UK and France, which introduced her to working in English and French. She was in the cast of the television series Queen of Swords as Señora Vera Hidalgo, trophy wife of Gaspar Hidalgo and mistress of Captain Grisham, credited in the opening titles but appearing in only 14 of the 22 episodes. She also had a recurring role in the television series Los Serrano, playing teacher Raquel, who fell in love with her student Marcos. Pataky has appeared in over 10 Spanish films and co-starred in the French filmIznogoud. She was also on the cover of August 2006 issue of Maxim. She was cast in 2009 in the Mexican series Mujeres Asesinas as Paula Moncada in the episode "Ana y Paula, Ultrajadas". She also starred in the action noir filmGive 'Em Hell, Malone and Dario Argento's Giallo. Pataky became the female face for the first collection of Time Force's jewelry line Ultimate Jewel, opposite football star Cristiano Ronaldo. She played Officer Elena Neves in the movie Fast Five, with Dwayne Johnson as her partner, Luke Hobbs. MTV Networks' NextMovie.com named her one of the Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011. Pataky was a stand in for Natalie Portman in the post end credit scene in . She reprised her role as Elena Neves in Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious, the respective sixth, seventh, and eighth installments of The Fast and the Furious film series. In 2018 she starred in the Australian web television series Tidelands as Adrielle Cuthbert. It was released on 14 December 2018 on Netflix.
Personal life
She dated French actor Michaël Youn from 2004 to 2006. He broke up with her after finding out she was cheating on him. He wanted to surprise her on her birthday when she was filming Snakes on a Plane in Canada, but when he arrived to her hotel, he saw her kissing one of the movie’s producer. He gave her the bunch of flowers he bought her and flew back to Paris. She started dating American actor Adrien Brody in 2006. For Pataky's 31st birthday in July 2007, Brody bought her a 19th-century estate in New York. Pataky and Brody were featured at their New York home in a 35-page spread for HELLO! magazine in October 2008. The pair broke up in 2009. She started dating Australian actor Chris Hemsworth in early 2010 after meeting through their mutual representatives. Pataky and Hemsworth married during the Christmas holidays in 2010. They have three children together: a daughter, India Rose, born in May 2012, and twin sons, and Sasha, born in March 2014. In 2015, Pataky and Hemsworth moved from Los Angeles to Byron Bay in his native Australia. In September 2012, Pataky won €310,000 in Spain's Supreme Court against publishing group Ediciones Zeta. In March 2007, Interviu magazine, owned by the Zeta, published topless photos of Pataky that had been taken with a long lens while Pataky was changing clothes during a photoshoot for Elle magazine. The Zeta group said it would appeal against the decision.
