Elsa Pataky says marriage to Chris Hemsworth isn’t easy

While Elsa Pataky and her husband Chris Hemsworth often appear to have a fairytale life, the 44-year-old tells Australia’s Body & Soul it’s anything but.

“It’s funny that people think of us as a perfect couple,” she says of her decade-long relationship with the 37-year-old Australian actor. “No way. It’s been ups and downs, and we still keep working at the relationship. I think a relationship is constant work. It’s not easy.”

Pregnancy and motherhood caused her to fine-tune their relationship: “I had to slow down during my pregnancies and I couldn’t exercise as hard as I wanted. I remember feeling a bit lost when I had India. I thought my life was going to be the same [when I had kids] and I would keep working. But I couldn’t.”

She says it was hard to step back: “Chris would come home and say, ‘How was your day?’ And I didn’t feel proud to say: I’m just a mum.’ But you should. Because it’s the hardest but greatest job in the world.”