Welcome to Isla Fisher Web, a website dedicated to Isla Fisher, the star of The Lookout, Wedding Crashers and the upcoming Definitely, Maybe. We offer you daily updates on Isla's life and career and related information and downloads. Be sure to check with us often for the latest on Ms Fisher!
Full name: Isla Lang Fisher Date of birth: February 3, 1976 Place of birth: Muscat, Oman Height: 160cm Hair: Auburn Eyes: Brown Star sign: Aquarius Marital status: Fiancé Sacha Baron Cohen Children: Daughter Olive Cohen (born 2007)
Growing up in Perth
Isla Lang Fisher was born to Scottish parents on February 3, 1976 in Muscat, Oman. One among four brothers, Isla and her family lived in Oman until she was nine months old while her father worked there for the United Nations. Her name is Celtic (pronounced Eye-lah.), taken from the Isle of Islay. The Fisher family located to Perth, Australia when she was still a young girl and her parents separated shortly after. "I definitely think that Perth was a very isolated place to live. But, I had a great upbringing. I rode horses and had a very outdoorsy life, that I don't know if I would have had the same opportunity to have in Sydney or Melbourne," says Isla.
A natural performer
From a very young age on Isla was a natural performer. Her first job was as a lottery ad extra - she was so excited that she hyperventilated for four hours and nearly fainted! Isla began appearing regularly in commercials and on television and by the time she was 11, Fisher was working consistently. She attended Methodist Ladies' College and appeared in lead roles in school productions. She left home in 1992 to work on the short-lived teen drama, Paradise Beach (1993), about a group of young people from different parts of the world who settle in Australia in search of love, excitement and success. A year later, Fisher joined the cast of the popular Australian soap opera, Home and Away, portraying Shannon Reed between 1994-1997. The show immensively popular and so was Isla's character. She became a huge star in not only Australia but UK as well. In this role Isla tackled everything from sexual abuse to anorexia. Once her contract was finished, Isla opted to leave Home and Away to pursue other interests - despite being offered a big sum of money to stay.
In 1996, Isla published two novels with the help of her romance novelist mother, titled Bewitched and Seduced by Fame. "I started when I was 18 with my first book. But, before that, I was always in special writing classes after school, and I had always written. My mom wrote, and I had always wanted to be a writer. But, then I just realized that I liked to play dress up too." Although the books did very well in Australia, Isla decided not to continue writing novels. "Writing is great, but you guys all know it's also a bit anti-social. Not anti-social, but you're alone in a room. It's isolating. I've discovered that with age."
A new start
Once her stint on Home and Away was over, Isla escaped Australia for Paris where she was accepted to the prestigious Jacques Lecoq School after bombarding them with numerous letters. She studied mime and Commedia dell'Arte, and emerged from the school a fully qualified clown. In 1998, she was performing in the British musical Summer Holiday with then fiancé Darren Day, appeared in a London theatre production called Cosě and in several pantos—pantomime shows — that eventually took a toll on the actress. After a role on the seven-part BBC drama Hearts and Bones (2000) and appearances in Out of Depth (2000) and Attila (2001), Fisher got her first big international break as a movie actress as Shaggy's girlfriend, Mary Jane, in Scooby-Doo (2002). Isla charmed the audiences with her natural charisma and talent. "I know that a lot of Australians come out to the States with those ambitions, but weirdly enough, I only came out on the back of Scooby-Doo - for its premiere. And then, I ended up getting representation and ended up getting a job, almost straight away. So, I was fortunate, in that I didn't have to come out to LA and join a queue of however many people, and try to get work. I came in on the back of what was deemed a big studio movie that had had extraordinary success."
Wedding Crashers
Her role in Scooby-Doo led to no more work than usual — a surprise given its box office success and the certain exposure she received. Isla next went back to Australia to film the comedy The Wannabes (2003) and appeared in the independent coming-of-age drama, Dallas 362 (2003), the directing debut of Scott Caan. Another brief appearance followed in David O. Russell's existential comedy, I Heart Huckabees (2004) opposite best friend Naomi Watts and small part in the mockumentary series Pilot Season (2004). In 2005 Isla won the highly sought role of the nymphomaniac bridesmaid Gloria Cleary in Wedding Crashers. "She's this girl in heat who has no etiquette or ability to control herself. I just kept trying to turn it up an extra notch, and I think it paid off," says Isla of her character. Fisher nearly pulled the rug out from under co-stars Wilson and Vaughn, easily holding her own against the two comedic heavyweights. Wedding Crashers went on to take in over $120 million at the box office and even grabbed the number one spot in its third weekend of release. The performance won Isla the Breakthrough Performance Award at the MTV Movie Awards. "I just got lucky," says Fisher. After Wedding Crashers, Fisher appeared as Rebecca, a Manhattan party host, in London (2005), sharing the screen with Jessica Biel.
Rising Comedienne
Next Fisher starred in Wedding Daze (2006) opposite Jason Biggs. Despite receiving a warm welcome at the Toronto Film Festival, the film went straight to DVD in the US. Meanwile, Isla won praise for her turn as Luvlee in The Lookout (2007), a different and darker role from what the audiences had perhaps come to expect from this rising comedienne. "I had a director who had the vision to imagine me playing someone other than a bipolar nymphomaniac." In 2007, Isla also starred in Hot Rod alongside Andy Samberg. While the film was well received, Isla herself was not as content in the role. "This was an exciting project for me originally, because I was going to come in and be responsible for creating Denise and we were going to make her a funny character, but we ran out of time." Indeed, she has actively spoken out against the lack of opportunities for female comedians in Hollywood and has hence decided to write and produce her own movies. Fisher has co-written a script entitled Groupies together with Amy Poehler, and will produce another project called The Cookie Queen. In 2008 Isla will be seen as April in Definitely, Maybe and will next film Confessions of a Shopaholic. The Jerry Bruckheimer produced film is bound to make Isla a huge star as she will finally be given the center stage in a major movie.
Isla resides in Los Angeles, California, as well as in London, England with her fiancé, English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and their daughter Olive, whom the couple welcomed on October 19, 2007. Fisher and Baron Cohen are very much focused on their family and value their privacy. "My personal life is very important to me and it definitely comes first." While she is unable to visit Australia as often as she'd like, Isla has said that her "sensibility is Australian" and that she has a "laid-back attitude to life" that she feels is very Australian. Her mother and siblings live and work in Athens, Greece, while her father lives in Frankfurt, Germany.
Armed with fine and versatile talent, an arresting smile and her trademark red hair, Isla Fisher is a talent to watch out for.
