Elsa Pataky

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title: "Elsa Pataky" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1976-births", "living-people", "20th-century-spanish-actresses", "21st-century-spanish-actresses", "actresses-from-madrid", "hemsworth-family", "spanish-emigrants-to-australia", "spanish-expatriates-in-the-united-states", "spanish-film-actresses", "spanish-people-of-hungarian-descent", "spanish-people-of-romanian-descent", "spanish-television-actresses", "spanish-voice-actresses"] description: "Spanish model and actress (born 1976)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Pataky" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Spanish model and actress (born 1976) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Elsa Pataky
image	Elsa Pataky Cannes cropped.jpg
caption	Pataky in 2007
birth_name	Elsa Lafuente Medianu
birth_date
birth_place	Madrid, Spain
alma_mater	Universidad CEU San Pablo
occupation
years_active	1997–present
spouse
children	3, including India Rose Hemsworth
::

| name = Elsa Pataky | image = Elsa Pataky Cannes cropped.jpg | caption = Pataky in 2007 | birth_name = Elsa Lafuente Medianu | birth_date = | birth_place = Madrid, Spain | alma_mater = Universidad CEU San Pablo | occupation = | years_active = 1997–present | spouse = | children = 3, including India Rose Hemsworth Elsa Lafuente Medianu (; born 18 July 1976), known professionally as Elsa Pataky, is a Spanish model and actress. Pataky is known for her leading role of Raquel Alonso in the Spanish teen drama Al salir de Clase (1997-2002), before garnering international recognition as Elena Neves in the Fast & Furious franchise. She has appeared in the films Snakes on a Plane (2006), Giallo (2009) and Give 'Em Hell, Malone (2009). She also starred in the Spanish film Di Di Hollywood (2010) and played Mr. Norton and the Vuvalini General in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) in a dual role.

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 publicist. Her grandmother Rosa was from the Transylvania region of Romania.

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 series Al 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 (2000) 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 (Fran Perea).

Pataky has appeared in over 10 Spanish films and co-starred in the French film Iznogoud (2004). 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 film Give '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 Thor: The Dark World.

Pataky reprised her role as Elena Neves in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017), the sixth, seventh and eighth installments of Fast & Furious film series respectively.

In 2018, Pataky starred in the Australian web television series Tidelands as Adrielle Cuthbert. It was released on 14 December 2018 on Netflix.

Pataky played the lead role in Interceptor, directed by Matthew Reilly, which was released in June 2022.

Pataky co-founded a skincare brand called Purely Byron. The brand launched its first product in 2022. In March 2023, Purely Byron was placed in administration and put up for sale. At the time, BWX Group owned a 47.4 per cent stake in the company, while Ido Leffler and Lance Kalish held about 22 per cent each, and Chris Hemsworth's Byron Bay 1st Management owned a 3.2 per cent stake.

Personal life

Pataky dated French actor Michaël Youn from 2004-06 and American actor Adrien Brody from 2006-09. 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 Hemsworth, and twin sons. In 2015, the family moved from Los Angeles to Byron Bay, Australia. Pataky has frequently gone barefoot while in Australia.

In September 2012, Pataky won €310,000 in a ruling by the Supreme Court of Spain against publishing group Ediciones Zeta, owner of the magazine Interviu which in March 2007 published topless photos of Pataky that had been taken with a long lens while she was changing clothes during a photoshoot for Elle magazine. The Zeta group said it would appeal against the decision.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1997	Solo en la buhardilla	Chica revista	Short film
2000	The Art of Dying	Candela	url=http://www.elsapataky.com/cine/cine.html	title=Films
Tatawo	Blanqui
*Less is More *	Diana
2001	Don't Tempt Me	Waitress in Hell
**	Marta Cuspineda
2002	**	Fátima
2003	Beyond Re-Animator	Laura Olney
**	Nina
**	Katya
2004	Romasanta	Barbara
Tiovivo c. 1950	Balbina
2005	**	Prehti-Ouhman
Arquitectura efímera deconstruida	Vídeo 'Retorciendo palabras'	Direct-to-video
Ninette	Alajandra 'Ninette'
2006	Snakes on a Plane	Maria
2007	Manual of Love 2	Cecilia
2008	Máncora	Ximena Saavedra
Skate or Die	Dany
Santos	Laura Luna
2009	Giallo	Celine
Give 'Em Hell, Malone	Evelyn
Shorts	Allie Hamilton	Voice
Spanish dub
2010	Mr. Nice	Ilza Kadegis
Di Di Hollywood	Di Di
2011	La importancia de llamarse Enesto		Short film
Fast Five	Elena Neves
Where the Road Meets the Sun	Michelle
Snowflake, the White Gorilla	Bruja del Norte / Brumhilda the Witch	Voice
2013	All Things to All Men	Sophia Peters
The Wine of Summer	Veronica	Also producer
Fast & Furious 6	Elena Neves
2015	Furious 7
2017	The Fate of the Furious
2018	12 Strong	Jean Nelson
2022	Interceptor	JJ Collins	title=Author Matthew Reilly goes from books to big screen in Interceptor directing debut	work=ABC News Australia
Thor: Love and Thunder	Wolf Woman
Poker Face	Penelope
Carmen	Gabrielle
2023	Fast X	Elena Neves	Archive footage from Fast Five
2024	Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	Mr. Norton / Vuvalini General	Dual role
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1997	Al salir de clase	Raquel Alonso	192 episodes
1998	Tio Willy		1 episode
La vida en el aire		13 episodes
2000	Hospital Central	Maribel	2 episodes
Queen of Swords	Vera Hidalgo	14 episodes
2002	Clara		Television film
Paraíso	Luisa	Episode: "El cebo"
2003	7 vidas	Cristina	Episode: "La jaula de las locas"
Los Serrano	Raquel Albaladejo	11 episodes
2005	Films to Keep You Awake: The Christmas Tale	Ekran	Television film
2009	Mujeres asesinas	Paula Moncada	Episode: "Ana y Paula, ultrajadas"
2018	Tidelands	Adrielle Cuthbert	Main role
::

References

References

1. (2015). "Elsa Pataky". [[The New York Times]].
2. (11 May 2021). "La imagen de Elsa Pataky con su madre donde demuestra de dónde ha sacado su belleza".
3. "Elsa Pataky Biography".
4. "Elsa Pataky".
5. Elsa Pataky. (2018-05-03). "El secreto de una vida larga y saludable (The secret of a long and healthy life)".
6. (14 December 2015). "Blog Alumni CEU: Elsa Pataky y Ana Pastor".
7. (5 August 2016). "Actors and Actresses Who Speak Multiple Languages".
8. (June 21, 2016). "20 things to know about Chris Hemsworth's wife, Elsa Pataky".
9. (6 December 2011). "Elsa Pataki presented Time Force jewelry collection".
10. Evry, Max. (5 January 2011). "25 Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011".
11. Lee, Esther. (3 December 2013). "Natalie Portman: Chris Hemsworth's Wife Elsa Pataky Was Stand-In".
12. (12 September 2013). "Djimon Hounsou Joins Fast & Furious 7".
13. (26 March 2018). "Elsa Pataky Will Play A Half-Siren, Half-Human In Netflix's First OG Australian Series".
14. Kruger, Jessica Yun, Colin. (2023-03-15). "Purely Byron is for sale, but Pataky's role in brand's future unclear".
15. England, Cameron. (2023-03-14). "Purely Byron, the skincare firm backed by Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth, is in administration". [[The Australian]].
16. Hello. (October 7, 2008). "Adrien and Spanish love Elsa share their 'dream castle' with HELLO!". Hello.
17. Jordan, Julie. (28 December 2010). "''Thor'' Star Chris Hemsworth Gets Married".
18. Macaluso, Beth Anne. (12 May 2012). "Chris Hemsworth's Wife Elsa Pataky Gives Birth to Daughter India!".
19. Pataky, Elsa. "Cómo he preparado la llegada de los bebés".
20. (25 March 2014). "Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky Name Twin Sons Tristan and Sasha".
21. Kehagias, Melissa. (27 September 2014). "Chris Hemsworth has bought himself a $7 million Byron Bay home". [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)]].
22. (10 February 2015). "Elsa Pataky reveals how her life has changed since moving to Australia with Chris Hemsworth".
23. (3 November 2021). "Elsa Pataky goes shopping barefoot with her kids".
24. (16 November 2022). "Elsa Pataky On Falling Utterly In Love With Byron Bay".
25. (15 February 2025). "Elsa Pataky showcases incredibly toned legs as she steps out in Daisy Dukes with new family member".
26. (14 March 2025). "Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth share the perks of living in Australia".
27. (7 August 2025). "Chris Hemsworth's twin sons divide fans as they go barefoot in new family photo — see".
28. Govan, Fiona. (18 September 2012). "Spanish actress Elsa Pataky wins topless photo case". The Daily Telegraph.
29. "Films".
30. (28 July 2011). "Paths That Cross in Los Angeles". [[The New York Times]].
31. (14 May 2016). "Elsa Pataky regresa la gran pantalla con Fast & Furious 8". abc.es.
32. (10 October 2021). "Author Matthew Reilly goes from books to big screen in Interceptor directing debut". ABC News Australia.
33. (17 May 2024). "Chris Hemsworth Explains Why Working with Wife Elsa Pataky on Furiosa Was 'Like Date Night for Us' (Exclusive)".
34. (10 December 2010). "The Christmas Tale (2005)".

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