Playing a couple on screen requires two actors to develop chemistry and work together to create a convincing dynamic. It tends to take time, but it's considerably more comfortable if you're already in a committed relationship with the person you're acting alongside. That's what happened on the set of 12 Strong, as the film's star Chris Hemsworth recently admitted that having his actual wife portray his fictional wife made the movie pretty easy. Hemsworth addressed the process of acting alongside his wife and explained:
Obviously, it was much easier with Elsa playing my wife. I felt like we've been rehearsing more than seven years for this part. We joked while we were filming, 'If we don't have any on-camera chemistry in this movie then we're in trouble.'
Chris Hemsworth was obviously joking in his remarks about the possibility of him not having chemistry with his wife, but it's likely something that came up at least once. Elsa Pataky, herself an actress known for her work on the Fast and Furious franchise, has never acted in a movie scene with Chris Hemsworth before. So while their own relationship likely helped quite a bit, one also has to wonder if it didn't feel slightly bizarre to recreate that dynamic as two unique characters. With seven years of relationship experience under their belts, they were able to pull off a convincing connection rooted in their own love story.
Beyond that, however, it turns out that art imitated life in a few of the scenes depicted in 12 Strong. Specifically, Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky even injected some lines from their own marriage into the dynamic between their two characters. Does that count as going method?
With all of that said, it doesn't sound like anyone is in particular hurry to repeat the 12 Strong dynamic on the big screen anytime soon. Elsa Pataky's role in the film was small enough to allow her to continue taking care of their children while Chris Hemsworth worked on the film, and now it looks like the Thor actor is actually going to take a break from his time in front of the camera for the rest of the year so he can focus on being a dad and a husband. The decision will also likely help Pataky become more active as an actress, as she admitted in the couple's interview with Independent that she took a step back from her career to focus on parenting while Hemsworth pursued the work. Now they have a chance to change that up.
Make sure to catch Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth onscreen together in 12 Strong, which is now in theaters. As for Hemsworth's next major project, you will once again be able to catch him as Thor Odinson when Avengers: Infinity War premieres in theaters later this year on May 4. Here is everything that we here at CinemaBlend currently know about Infinity War.
