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Isla Fisher
Fisher at the 2009 Golden Globes
Born	Isla Lang Fisher (1976-02-03) 3 February 1976 (age 48) Muscat, Oman
Occupation(s)	Actress, author
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Sacha Baron Cohen ​(m. 2010)​
Children	2 daughters
Website	www.islafisher.co.uk

Isla Lang Fisher (pronounced /ˈaɪlə/; born 3 February 1976) is a British actress and author who began her acting career on Australian television. She appeared on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away. She has since been known for her comedic roles in Scooby-Doo (2002), Wedding Crashers (2005), Hot Rod (2007), Definitely, Maybe (2008), and Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009).

Early life

Fisher was born in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish parents from Bathgate and Stranraer, and was brought up in Perth, Western Australia. They resided in Muscat because her father, Brian, was a banker for the UN. She has four brothers. Fisher spent her early years in Bathgate before moving with her family to Perth when she was six years old. Fisher has said that she had a "great" upbringing in Perth with a "very outdoorsy life". She attended Methodist Ladies' College and appeared in lead roles in school productions.

Career

She began appearing in commercials on Australian television at the age of nine, before going on to win roles in popular children's television shows Bay City and Paradise Beach. At the age of 18, with the help of her mother, she published two teen novels, Bewitched and Seduced by Fame. From 1994 to 1997 she played the role of Shannon Reed on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. In 1996, she won a Logie Award nomination for Most Popular Actress for her role. After leaving the soap, Fisher enrolled at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, a theatre and arts training school in Paris and went on to appear in pantomime in the United Kingdom. She also toured with Darren Day in the musical Summer Holiday and appeared in the London theatre production, Così. In 2001, Fisher was cast as Kim in the German horror film Swimming Pool.

In 2002 she had a part in the film version of Scooby-Doo as Mary Jane, Shaggy's love interest who is allergic to dogs. She wore a blonde wig for portraying her role because Sarah Michelle Gellar was supposed to be the only redhead in the film. The following year, she portrayed the character Kristy in the Australian comedy The Wannabes. Subsequently, Fisher was taken on by an American agent. A larger role in Wedding Crashers, alongside Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, in 2005 won her the Breakthrough Performance Award at the MTV Movie Awards. While promoting Wedding Crashers, she was officially crowned the 1000th guest on Australian talk show Rove on 2 August 2005. She entered the set ahead of Owen Wilson, winning the title by two metres.

In 2006, Fisher starred as Becca, a Manhattan party host, in the relationship drama London co-starring Jessica Biel, Chris Evans, and Jason Statham. She played the role of Katie in the romantic comedy Wedding Daze with Jason Biggs. In 2007, she appeared in The Lookout, a thriller film co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew Goode, and Hot Rod, opposite Andy Samberg. She was scheduled to appear in The Simpsons Movie, although her appearance was cut from the final version. In 2008, she starred in the critically acclaimed romantic comedy film Definitely, Maybe, with Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Breslin, and had a voice role in Horton Hears a Who! Fisher has also co-written a script entitled Groupies with Amy Poehler, as well as another project entitled The Cookie Queen. She starred in the movie adaptation of the book Confessions of a Shopaholic, which opened on 13 February 2009. In the film, Fisher played a college graduate who works as a financial journalist in New York City to support her shopping addiction. Confessions of a Shopaholic suffered critically but eventually opened at No.4 grossing $15,054,000 on its opening weekend. Fisher received her third Teen Choice Award nomination.

Fisher has spoken out against the lack of opportunities for comediennes in Hollywood. In 2010, she starred in the black comedy Burke and Hare. Fisher then voiced the role of Beans in Rango, a computer-animated Western film released in March 2011. In the movie, Johnny Depp and her Definitely, Maybe co-star Abigail Breslin also provide voice-over roles.

Personal life

Fisher first met English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in 2002 at a party in Sydney, Australia. The couple became engaged in 2004, and wed on 15 March 2010 in Paris, France.

In order to marry Baron Cohen, Fisher converted to Judaism after three years of study and completed her conversion in early 2007, saying "I will definitely have a Jewish wedding just to be with Sacha. I would do anything – move into any religion – to be united in marriage with him. We have a future together, and religion comes second to love as far as we are concerned." She took the Hebrew name Ayala (איילה), the Hebrew word for Doe, and has described herself as keeping Shabbat. Fisher and Baron Cohen have two daughters. Fisher has said that her "sensibility is Australian" and that she has a "laid-back attitude to life" that she feels "very Australian." Her mother and siblings live in Athens, Greece, while her father divides his time between Frankfurt, Germany and Nicaragua.

Awards

• 1997: #35 of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World (FHM)
• 2003: #26 of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World" (FHM)
• 2006: "Best Newcomer" (MTV Movie Awards) for "Wedding Crashers"

Filmography

References

1. ^ Roberts, Sheila (25 March 2007). "Isla Fisher Interview, The Lookout". MoviesOnline. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
2. "Isla Fisher maintains she is not a shopaholic , STV Video". Video.stv.tv. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
3. "Daddy's little girl! Isla Fisher joined by her father at premiere of new film Rango". Daily Mail. London. 22 February 2011.
4. Wolf, Jeanne (29 March 2007). "What Creeps Out Borat's Future Wife?". Retrieved 6 April 2007. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
5. Finn, Natalie (16 March 2007). "Family Guy Has Burnett Feeling Copyrighteous". E! Online. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
6. "Isla Fisher signs on for Shopaholic role". ABC News (Australia). 21 September 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
7. "Fisher plans Hollywood sex revolution". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
8. "Two More Cast Members for Burke and Hare". Dreadcentral.com. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
9. "Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher Wed". People. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
10. "Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen Wed". Showbiz.sky.com. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
11. "Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen's Secret, Six-Guest Wedding". People. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
12. Simpson, Richard; Weaver, Clair (4 March 2004). "I is marrying me Julie". Evening Standard. London, England. Retrieved 21 July 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. "Fisher to marry Baron Cohen 'soon'". Hull Daily Mail. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
14. Das, Lina (8 February 2008). "Isla Fisher: My husband Borat is so tall he makes me look like a circus freak". The Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
15. Hellard, Peta (3 September 2007). "Isla Fisher's pregnant pause". NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
16. Lipworth, Elaine (19 February 2009). "Fisher: I'm addicted to breastfeeding". Metro. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
17. ^ "Isla an Aussie at heart". Sunday Mail. 25 March 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
18. "Isla Fisher to Kiss and Tell". Slashfilm.com. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Isla Fisher at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from June 2011
• 1976 births
• Living people
• British people of Scottish descent
• Converts to Judaism
• Jewish actors
• People educated at Methodist Ladies' College, Perth
• People from Bathgate
• People from Muscat, Oman
• People from Perth, Western Australia
• Scottish expatriates in Australia
• Scottish expatriates in the United States
• Scottish Jews
• Scottish film actors
• Scottish television actors
• Scottish voice actors