Elsa In Her Element

Beauty, celebrity, wealth, the gorgeous family: Elsa Pataky’s existence is a blessed one, but eschewing the trappings of fame and fortune is what’s truly brought her contentment. No ivory tower for this one, finds Eugenie Kelly

- Eugenie Kelly

ELSA PATAKY takes the terracotta stairs of Raes, the iconic Byron Bay boutique hotel, two at a time, an impressive feat considering it’s 5.30am and there are three flights to navigate. Devoid of makeup, dressed in loose cream drawstring pants and a white cotton jumper, a fringed suede bag slung over her petite frame, she looks more chic yoga teacher than Hollywood star — a description she’d likely classify as a compliment.

The 42-year-old orders a chai latte and a bowl of gluten-free granola and coconut yogurt and lets BAZAAR’s hair and makeup team work their magic while she checks emails on her phone. The slicked-back hair look we give her is a tricky trend to pull off IRL, but Pataky has that innate confidence to make it work, and she clearly loves the departure from her signature blonde boho waves. We set up for the first shot and Pataky immediately falls for the Dior tulle V-neck gown with a zigzag velvet-and-satin strip from the pre-fall 2019 collection. Her husband, actor Chris Hemsworth, is currently in LA doing press for Avengers: Endgame, the final installment of the Marvel blockbuster franchise, and the dress could be perfect for its red-carpet premiere.

Torrential rain means plans to shoot out the front on Wategos beach are shelved, so plan B is to revert to our current surrounds instead. Travertine floors, whitewashed walls, timber shutters, handwoven rattan furniture, loose linen upholstery: Sydney interior designer Tamsin Johnson was having a modern Mediterranean moment when she recently refurbished the property, so Spanish-born Pataky is feeling right at home, nailing shots in record time. Hence the hours fly by productively and our shoot wraps ahead of schedule. This early mark is a bonus in her books: it means she makes school pick-up for her three children — seven-year-old India Rose and five-year-old twins Tristan and Sasha.