Breakups aren’t easy. First, you’ve got to deal with the pain of heartbreak, then you’ve got the awkward job of working out what to do with all the gifts you’ve given, and received. No one’s more familiar with this feeling than actor Adrien Brody, who bought ex Elsa Pataky a castle before she left him for Chris Hemsworth.
Back in 2007, Brody dropped $650,000 big ones on Stone Barn Castle, a beautiful 19th-century estate based in the middle of New York.
That might not seem like much money for an actor of Brody’s calibre – but wait, there’s more. When Brody bought the castle, he reportedly blindfolded his then-girlfriend Elsa Pataky and surprised her with it on her 31st birthday.
A year later, Brody and Pataky celebrated their ‘dream castle’ with a 35-page (!!) spread in HELLO! Magazine.
“When I saw the castle, I asked Adrien, ‘Is this ours?’” Pataky told HELLO! Magazine. “He said, ‘Yes – welcome home.’”
The photos from Pataky and Brody’s shoot lay on the cheese-factor, extra thick. In one photo, they’re cuddling in the grass in front of the castle, in another Pataky flirts with Brody while he reads a script in the bathtub, and the most cringeworthy has to be Pataky posing in the mouth of a huge tractor.
Speaking of exes, hear about the awkward working arrangements on the set of The Kissing Booth 2 below:
It all looks like the perfect mid-00s Hollywood love affair, but sadly, it didn’t last. In fact, Elsa Pataky broke up with Adrien Brody in 2009 and started dating Chris Hemsworth just one year later. The same year, Hemsworth and Pataky tied the knot.
While it’s particularly uncomfortable to look at Pataky and Brody’s 35-page spread in hindsight – the pair have gone on to lead seemingly happy lives. Pataky has had three children with Hemsworth and is still happily married, and it was recently reported that Brody was dating Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife Georgina Chapman.
Clearly, everything happens for a reason. Just think twice before buying a 19th-century castle for your partner.
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