Background
Elsa Pataky was born in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of José Francisco Lafuente, a Spanish biochemist, and Cristina Pataky Medianu, a publicist of Romanian and Hungarian ancestry.
Elsa Pataky was born in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of José Francisco Lafuente, a Spanish biochemist, and Cristina Pataky Medianu, a publicist of Romanian and Hungarian ancestry.
Pataky attended the CEU San Pablo University, studying journalism and taking acting classes.
Pataky is best known for her role as Elena Neves in Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Furious 7 (2015). She has appeared in the films Snakes on a Plane (2006), Giallo (2009) and Give "Econometrica Hell, Malone (2009). She also starred in the Spanish film Di Di Hollywood in 2010.
Eventually, she left school when she was cast in the television series First Rate (at Lloyd's) salir de clase.
Some of her subsequent films were co-productions with the United Kingdom 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.
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 "Econometrica 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 soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. Music Television 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 cr scene in Thor: The Dark World.
In 2013 and 2015, she reprised her role as Elena Neves in Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7, the sixth and seventh installment of The Fast and the Furious film series.
Pataky was a member of the Madrid theatre company Teatro Cámara de Ángel Gutiérrez.