She’s been half of one of Australia’s most talked about couples for over a decade, but before Elsa Pataky fell for our hunky Chris Hemsworth, the Spanish actress had a different life.
WATCH BELOW: Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth dance in matching white suits
Pataky had a three-year romance with actor Adrien Brody in the late 2000’s, shocking fans when reports of the past relationship recently surfaced again online.
“I had no idea they were once a couple! He’s so handsome!” one fan wrote. “That’s wild … I had NO idea. I had never heard of her before she married Chris,” said another.
Although it ended over a decade ago, with Pataky tying the knot with Hemsworth the next year, the actress’ romance with Brody is intriguing nonetheless.
The pair met in 2006 and quickly became one of the hottest couples on the red carpet.
“The first time I saw Elsa I was completely spellbound,” Brody, now 48, said in an interview with Hello! magazine during their relationship. “Have I told you she’s the love of my life? I say it every day.
The actor was so smitten in fact, that he surprised his lady love by purchasing and renovating a 19th-century castle in New York for the pair to live in – unveiling it on her 31st birthday in 2007.
“I blindfolded her. Right at the castle there’s a giant, beautiful church bell. And I said, ‘When you hear the sound of the bell, you can open your eyes and you’ll see your surprise.’ And then I rang the bell,” Brody told Hello! – who did a 35-page photo shoot of the couple at their new home – in 2008.
“When I saw the castle, I asked Adrien, ‘Is this ours?’” Pataky also told the magazine of her beau’s elaborate surprise. “He said, ‘Yes – welcome home.’”
Although the couple were said to have gotten engaged that same year, the relationship wasn’t meant to be and they called it quits in 2009.
It’s not just Pataky’s previous romantic relationships that fans may not be familiar with either, but her popularity in her home country, too.
The actress was a household name in Spain before she tried her luck in the United States, eventually landing her role in the Fast and Furious franchise.
And while her marriage to Hemsworth, 37, has certainly garnered the actress more attention in Hollywood, she hasn’t let her hubby forget she was a fully fledged star in Spain long before him.
“He’s like, ‘I’m the Sexiest Man Alive,’ and I’m like, ‘I was the sexiest in Spain for years! You have just one title,’” Pataky previously joked of his People magazine accolade in 2014.
While her career has taken a back seat since having their three kids – daughter India, 9, and twin sons Sasha and Tristan, 7 – Pataky is keen to start taking on more projects now that the children are getting older.
“We live in Australia and I want to do things here and start working, and for people to know me a little bit more than as Chris’ wife,” the 44-year-old, who most recently starred in 2018 Netflix series Tidelands, previously told Stellar.
Even though she may be keen to shake the “Mrs Hemsworth” tag, fans still think the actress made the right call.
“There is something very cool about Adrien Brody,” one fan said of Pataky’s romance history. “But is there a woman on the planet who could turn down Chris Hemsworth?”
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