OurBiography

Isla Fisher is a film actress known for both comedic and dramatic fare like Wedding Crashers, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Now You See Me and The Great Gatsby.

Synopsis

Born on February 3, 1976, in Muscat, Oman, Isla Fisher was a teen actress and novelist who later turned to Hollywood films, starring in a range of works that included Wedding Crashers,Definitely, Maybe and Confessions of a Shopaholic. She was later featured in two hit summer 2013 releases: The Great Gatsby and Now You See Me. She's married to Borat comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Background

Isla Fisher was born on February 3, 1976, in Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, to Scottish parents. The family moved to Perth, Australia, where Fisher grew up, entering acting as a child. During her teens she starred in the soap operas Paradise Beach and Home and Away. And following in the footsteps of her mother, who's a writer, Fisher released two novels for young readers, Bewitched and Seduced by Fame.

Comedy Career

Fisher eventually left Australia, studying for a time at Paris' Jacques Lecoq International School of Theatre. She later relocated to Los Angeles with her significant other, provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen, who encouraged Fisher to work in comedy as well.

In the U.S. she started to develop her big-screen career, making her film debut as Shaggy's girlfriend in Scooby-Doo (2002). Other projects followed like David O. Russell's existential comedy I Heart Huckabees (2004). Fisher then made a big splash playing a lascivious bridesmaid opposite Vince Vaughn in 2005's hit comedy Wedding Crashers.

Fisher, who is a big fan of British comedies, was becoming a known entity on the Hollywood map, yet lamented there not being more available roles for actresses who work in humor. "A lot of stuff I didn't do," she said in a 2009 Entertainment Weekly interview. "A lot of not funny 'girlfriend' roles in very commercial movies. That was frustrating." Still, she noted that more films soon became available that highlighted women in comedy, as seen with her 2011 film Bachelorette, co-starring Rebel Wilson and Kirsten Dunst.

'Confessions' and 'Gatsby'

After the 2008 romantic outing Definitely, Maybe, Fisher landed her first film role as lead with 2009's Confessions of a Shopaholic, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and adapted from the Sophie Kinsella novel. Fisher has done animation work as well over the years, with voiceover roles in Horton Hears a Who (2008), Rango (2011) and Rise of the Guardians (2012).

Then in the summer of 2013, the actress landed two international hits, both more serious dramatic fare: the ensemble project Now You See Me, in which she played a magician escape artist, and Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, in which she portrayed beleaguered lover Myrtle Washington.

In 2010, Fisher and Cohen wed privately in a Jewish ceremony sans media hoopla, with a small group of friends attending the Parisian nuptials. The couple has two daughters.