Thor has been portrayed by Chris Hemsworth
ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first installment centering on the God of
Thunder. The role launched the Aussie native into international
superstardom, but there was a time when his wife was even more famous than him. Here's the truth about Elsa Pataky. Two action heroes While Hemsworth is best known for his work
within the MCU, Pataky once starred in a multi-billion-dollar, action film franchise of her own. Between 2011 and 2017, the actress played
Elena opposite Vin Diesel's Dom in The Fast and the Furious series. The long-running role served as her most popular
gig to date, but, after portraying the patrol officer character in four flicks, Pataky's
on-screen alter ego was shockingly killed during a kidnapping in The Fate of the Furious. Pataky told The Hollywood Reporter at the
time, "I think all stories have to have a beginning
and an end, and it was a long trip for this character...The relationship with Dom and
her job were really interesting. They were in love, but…it was a beautiful
way to end it. Very dramatic and very sad." Calling the experience itself "special," the
movie star added that The Fast and the Furious crew felt, quote, "like a family" to her,
and even went on to tease Elena's possible resurrection, saying, "You didn't see Elena die, so you never know. In this franchise, there are characters you
think are dead, and they come back. So there's always hope. We'll see." Whirlwind romance After meeting through a mutual dialect coach
in early 2010, Pataky and Hemsworth got engaged just nine months later and married that December,
according to People magazine. Over the next three years, the couple would
welcome three children. During those early years, their whirlwind
romance and decision to expand their brood coincided with Hemsworth being thrust into
the international spotlight alongside his Marvel counterpart Thor. The quick succession of this personal and
professional combination understandably put a strain on their relationship. Pataky later admitted to Vogue Australia in
2018, "We did everything very quickly, I don't know
how we survived as a couple. It puts a lot of pressure on a marriage, but
we came out good because there is a lot of love between us and we are very strong personalities
but love each other so much. We make it work." Of their marital success, the model-actress
went on to say that their years together have been "great," adding, "Every marriage has ups and downs, it's constant
work to be in a successful marriage and stay together forever." Tattooing her fate Years before she would meet her husband, a
15-year-old Elsa Pataky got a Thor symbol tattooed on her arm, according to Vogue Australia. Of course, her future Aussie beau would go
on to play the God of Thunder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this strange coincidence
has not been lost on the actress herself. Pataky told the media outlet in 2018, "Yes, it's about Thor and I ended up marrying
who plays Thor!" On whether the Madrid-born star unknowingly
tattooed her marital fate, she admitted, "It is shocking how things in life [turn out]. I just liked that [symbol] and the legend
he had was so beautiful and I wanted to keep it." Throughout their relationship, tattoos have
continued to hold special meaning for Pataky and Hemsworth, who share matching tats on
their arms. They both reportedly have the initials of
their first names, followed by the initials of their children's first names, using the
Runic alphabet. When translated, their arms feature the ink
"C," "E," "I," "T," and "S," which presumably stand for Chris, Elsa, India, Tristan, and
Sasha. Acting hiatus As Hemsworth skyrocketed into superstardom,
Pataky largely put her own acting prospects on the back burner in order to support her
husband's career and to raise their kiddos at home, according to GQ. However, she was more than happy to make this
professional sacrifice for the sake of her loved ones. Pataky told El País in 2014, "I've followed my ambitions and I have worked
where I've been able to, but since 2012 my energy has gone practically 100 percent into
my family...Unlike other women I am lucky enough to be able to be with my children 24
hours a day and I don't want to waste even a second." She went on to explain that in terms of levels
of fame, she and Hemsworth essentially, quote, "swapped roles" in the early 2010s. She said, "Now Chris is at a wonderful moment in his
career and I am there to support him. I feel very proud to be his wife. I was Elsa Pataky for a long time and I don't
mind being Mrs. Chris Hemsworth, although that does sound a bit old-fashioned." However, when Hemsworth has breaks in projects
and she's able to go off and work, he knows exactly where he needs to be. "I'm shooting this show now for Netflix, so
this is the time I say 'Okay you stay with the kids." Life Down Under With growing fame comes heightened media attention,
and the Pataky-Hemsworth clan understandably grew tired of battling the prying cameras
of the paparazzi in Los Angeles. According to News Australia, the married pair
decided to ditch the glitz and glamour of Hollywood for a quieter life in the Marvel
actor's native Australia, and settled their family of five in a $9 million mega-mansion
in Byron Bay in 2014. Pataky told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2018, "I'll never live in LA again. We will travel back there for work when we
need to, but I can't see myself living in a city again...Growing up I was very happy
in nature, with animals, and I dreamed of living in a place where my kids can run around
with no shoes on, surrounded by all kinds of animals." Since they've been able to raise their kids
largely out of the spotlight, the couple's children apparently don't realize their mom
and dad are known around the world. While speaking with Hola! in 2019, Pataky
said, "They think their parents are like the other
parents, and that's what I think they have to think all their lives. That their parents maybe appear in movies
or on TV every once in a while, and for them it's the most normal thing in the world, and
they don't have to think there's a difference at all." Five languages Pataky isn't just an actress-model-mother-wife
extraordinaire, she also has an undeniable knack for mastering languages. According to the Daily Mail, she speaks fluently
in her native Spanish, as well as English, Italian, Romanian, and French. Talk about impressive! Pataky has since passed this multilingual
talent on to her own kiddos, whom she speaks to in both Spanish and English, while working
hard to make sure they stay in touch with their ancestry. She told Hola! in 2019, "[I do it] by surrounding them with Spaniards. I have almost all my family here to speak
to them in Spanish. I try to educate them and tell them about
typical Spanish dishes." Pataky added that summer visits to Spain also
serve to help her children, quote, "never lose their roots." While most members of the Pataky-Hemsworth
household can speak more than one language, the same can't be said for Chris Hemsworth. Pataky quipped on the Today show in 2017, "He promised me, he said, 'I'll be speaking
Spanish in two months, there we go.' We have been together for six years." However, to the Marvel star's credit, his
wife went on to say, "He's improving, every year he knows one or
two words more." Marvel cameo For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,
and even on the big screen, Pataky has always had her husband's back. According to Hemsworth's 2017 interview with
W magazine, his real-life love stepped in to save the day when a scheduling conflict
prevented actress Natalie Portman from reprising her role as Thor's love interest, Jane Foster,
in a reshoot for 2013's Thor: The Dark World. After the director brought in multiple women
as possible stand-ins for Portman, Hemsworth had an even better solution. "And I said, 'My wife's around the corner,'
let's get her in. And she's the same height, I won't have to
explain to her what I've been doing at work if I'm having to kiss someone else." So the final kiss in the film is in fact Hemsworth
and his wife. Don't beat yourself up too much if you missed
Pataky's impromptu and well-camouflaged Marvel debut. In addition to being the same height as Portman,
she was clad in a Jane Foster wig and costume. As Portman, who'd been busy filming another
project at the time, previously quipped to the New York Daily News, "That's why [the kiss] was so passionate. It was such a perfect solution, wasn't it?" Diversity in Hollywood With the [Hashtag Oscars So White] campaign
still very much a part of the conversation at the 2019 Academy Awards, it's not exactly
a secret that Hollywood has a lot of work to do when it comes to diversity and equality
both on and off camera. Luckily, there are celebs like Pataky who
have long used their platform to publicly put their own industry on blast when it comes
to matters of gender and race. In 2014, Pataky told El País that she and
other Latina actresses had been, quote, "pigeonhole[d]" into certain roles because of their accents,
and claimed that showbiz was, quote, "very cruel to women," particularly as they age. Four years later, the actress expressed to
Vogue Australia that she felt encouraged by a slow but noticeable shift in Tinseltown's
on-screen representation of women, different accents, and a mix of races. Citing Israeli actress Gal Gadot's triumphant
turn in 2017 DC flick Wonder Woman as an intersectional example, Pataky said, "It just shows that women have to be equal
in every way, and why not? People are not just interested in a lead guy,
they want to see stories from women. There have been amazing women in life, strong
women who have obstacles in life but keep going…interesting stories about women." Going strong Pataky and Hemsworth had been working in the
same industry long before they became an item in 2010, but they didn't team up on the big
screen until the 2018 action movie 12 Strong, in which they naturally played husband and
wife Mitch and Jean Nelson. While the wartime drama unfortunately failed
to be a smash hit, grossing a respectable $67.4 million worldwide, but scoring a relatively
low critical rating, the duo's on-screen chemistry was undeniable. Hemsworth quipped to the Independent at the
time, "I felt like we've been rehearsing more than
seven years for this part. We joked while we were filming, 'If we don't
have any on-camera chemistry in this movie then we're in trouble.'" For her part, Pataky admitted to Hola! that
taking on these roles meant breaking the couple's Number One rule: filming their respective
projects at different times in order to maintain a stable home life for their children. However, she added, "[It was] not a long time away. I thought it was a good experience for both
of us to have, doing what we love and what we are passionate about." "Yeah, it was nice to work together, it was
like a holiday for us because we left the kids for a week and we just enjoyed, like,
doing the scenes together." Who doesn't love seeing their favorite Hollywood
power couples collaborate? Here's hoping this married pair will continue
to join forces on screen in the future! Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your
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