He has been in Madrid for two days and has not wasted any time. Everytime that Elsa Pataky ‘Coming home’ she does it by squeezing like a lemon an agenda where there is time for almost everything: photo shoots, professional meetings, visiting family, dinner with friends… In these plans there is someone who almost never fails: her makeup artist. of a lifetime, Bea Matallana, who best highlights a physique that continues to be one of the most sent and the object of worship of many beauty brands.
Almost as loyal is her commitment to the Spanish footwear brand Gioseppo, to which she has been linked for eight years. Elsa does not design, “that’s what professionals are for”, but she does put her image in campaigns like the one she now stars in, a perfect excuse to talk about that wild life in Australia where she spends most of her time barefoot and raising children who live glued to the surfboard and without the pressure of having famous parents. “They completely ignore their parents being known. They live in her world and it doesn’t affect her.” Even in that, Elsa is lucky.
Long relationships are his thing. With Gioseppo it has been eight years.
EP: Time flies but I will tell you that my relationship is great and you can’t see how excited I am to be the image of a Spanish brand. I don’t design because there is a wonderful creative team and all I do sometimes is give my ideas. What I do confess to you is that I have never put a band-aid on when I wear these shoes. I like sneakers or go barefoot and I only leave the heel for certain events. Going barefoot is a pleasure because enjoying the land in the town where we live is a delight.
His life from the outside is idyllic. Is reality harsher?
EP: Compared to city life it is very different and I love living in nature. I have a friend who will die if you take her out of town and the opposite happens to me. I live in a very special place, next to the beach, what it would be like to live in Benicasim. We go on vacation when it gets crowded, but the rest of the year we are happy surrounded by green. It’s like the North of Spain, but without the cold. When I come to the city I take the opportunity to go to restaurants or shops, but I confess that I would not be able to live in a city. I ride horses daily and my horses are not in stables but outdoors. That lifestyle is what suits me. It is true that I was born and raised in a city, but today I only last a week and I don’t see my children with that lifestyle. They are surfers, like my daughter who rides horses daily. Together we go to competitions around Australia. I put the horses in the truck and we both go to compete in different towns.
Do they have sports as a fundamental subject, but how do they handle the academic part?
EP: They go to school like all children, but theirs is more about enjoying sports and that is why first thing in the morning they go surfing to release energy before sitting down to study. It is a very special school, small and different from the schools in Spain that here also finish at five in the afternoon. They at three and I can enjoy the afternoon with them. We have dinner at six and they go to bed early.
Precisely now there are politicians in Spain who advocate European time zones. Do you think that is possible in Spain?
EP: Spanish culture has other schedules and that will be difficult to change, but it is true that it is healthier for children to go to bed early than as late as in Spain. Eating dinner early and resting on time helps your health.
Do your children brag about famous parents?
EP: Not at all. Quite the opposite. My daughter doesn’t like to be recognized and she doesn’t want to talk at all. My son Tristán is very proud of his father but the truth is that they are not at all conceited in that sense. Our life is very normal and we are very integrated and it is only on vacation when people who come sometimes ask us for photos.
How is your marriage with Chris?
EP: The formula of all marriages is continuous work. Like all couples, we have gone through our crises, I don’t believe that any marriage will not go through them, but you have to work at it and dedicate yourself to the other person because over the years we evolve and change and you have to know how to adapt to those new situations that are part of the stages of life.
Do they argue?
EP: Well of course. As a Spaniard, I have my character, although I recognize that I have learned not to always win. We clash over small everyday things and you have to know how to find the middle point to have that balance. What is true is that the beautiful part is always shown and no one tells about the bad moments although you will imagine that they also occur. It’s like being a mother. It’s not always wonderful.
Are you thinking about more children?
EP: No no. Three is already a large family and we don’t want more.
Are you concerned about adolescence and how social networks influence young people?
EP: Of course, it’s scary like all parents when you understand the complications of networks and they enter a world where you can no longer protect them in the same way. I instill sport in them as a lifestyle and I am aware that living in an apartment could not be the same. My children use cell phones or technology for at most one hour a week. I keep them very busy and when they get home they are exhausted. But I talk a lot with them to prepare them for the world outside. Technology has helped but there is also a lot of negative impact on young people.
And how are you doing at work?
EP: I’m waiting for a premiere but I’m especially excited about the production company I’ve created, ‘You are so cool’, with which I’m going to do film projects. Now I am interested in bringing a version of a novel by a Spanish author that I loved to the cinema. I can’t say more except that it is current.
She has been working as an actress for years and I don’t know if she has had to experience any uncomfortable situations like those discovered with the “me too” movement.
EP: I confess that I have never had a problem and when I have experienced a situation that was not appropriate I have known how to raise my voice and prevail. As a Spaniard I have my character and I have made myself respected. Keep in mind that when I was working in Los Angeles I already had my experience in Spain and I have always known how to be where I wanted. I have never had a bad experience in that sense also because I have known how to be where I wanted and impose my decision.
What would be your best memory as an actress?
EP: I have many moments both inside and outside of Spain but obviously being under Garci’s orders was a wonderful experience as was being in the team of Fast and Furious.
Will there be a reunion with the cast of the series that launched it Afterclass?
EP: Soon we will see what there is.
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