Isla Fisher - Wedding Crashers

Isla Fisher/Wedding Crashers Interview

by Paul Fischer in Los Angeles.

AUSSIE ISLA TALKS WEDDINGS AND HOLLYWOOD.

Isla Fisher may be known to Australian TV viewers as star of the popularsoap Home and Away. However, the now London-based and petite Aussie isslowly beginning to make a name for herself in Hollywood, thanks to herscene-stealing turn opposite Vince Vaughan in the irreverent romantic comedyWedding Crashers. But when it comes to her own upcoming wedding to Britishcomic Sacha Baron Cohen [aka Ali G], the bubbly 29-year old remainstight-lipped. "If you?re after details, you?re going to be disappointed",says Fisher, laughingly. Though, since we are, after all, discussing acomedy, she does concede that Cohen at least makes her laugh. :"He definitelymakes me laugh more than anyone, which is hence why I?m marrying him," shesays. She does seem cynical when asked if she remains a romantic at heart."Am I a romantic at heart? Who knows." And the actress adds that she has noidea when she and Cohen will actually wed, and has a vague idea of what shewants " or doesn?t want "from her own wedding. "I don?t know and I haven?tplanned it yet. I?m engaged but I DO know when I was nine I wanted to wearfairy wings," she adds, laughingly. "But I?ve let that go now becauseeverybody wears fairy wings to raves and does Ecstasy, so it?s just wrong?I?m gonna not wear fairy wings, but that?s all I know."

Born in 1976 to Scottish parents in the Arabian country of Oman, her familymoved to Australia in the early 1980s. From a young age Isla showed aninterest in both acting and writing. "I basically had ears this size when Iwas two and I didn?t grow into them, so I tended to make people laugh andmuck around, which was always fun," Fisher recalls. At nine years old shewas appearing in Australian TV commercials and landed some small parts inthe Australian TV series 'Bay Cove' (1993) (aka 'Bay City'). This led to amore substantial role in the series 'Paradise Beach' (1993) and when thatshow ended she ended up as a series regular in the long-running Australiansoap opera 'Home and Away' (1988). While working on that show she indulgedin another of her passions, writing, and published two best-selling novels,'Seduced By Fame' and 'Bewitched'. In 1997 she was picked by the readers ofFHM magazine as #35 on the list of the '100 Sexiest Women in the World', andin 2003 was placed 26th.

Though Wedding Crashers does not mark her foray into Hollywood, it may bethe film that establishes the young actress, as a sexy and diversecomedienne, but it wasn?t a film that was simply handed to her. "I went in,auditioned, did three scenes, then went back again and did the same threescenes." In the romantic comedy 'Wedding Crashers', Isla Fisher co-stars as Gloria, the seeminglysexually aggressive and precocious younger sister of a politician?s daughter who falls for Vince Vaughan?s irresponsible wedding crasher.

She smiles when asked if playing a sexually aggressive character came easy to her."Whilst playing Gloria definitely," she says. "It was an interestingcharacter to play, because she was so crazy and lacking in any kind ofsocial etiquette. She doesn?t care what anyone thinks." One key scene, hasFisher?s Gloria doing all sorts of things to a tied up Vince Vaughan, butshe was determined to use a body double for much of it. "I negotiated thatfrom the beginning, trying to analyse why. I find pornographic violence,just gratuitous and unnecessary than nudity, because there?s nothing morepeaceful and beautiful. After all, we?re all born naked, and I totally kindof hate the puritanical approach to the whole nudity thing, but then when itcomes to me," she trails off, before bursting into laughter. "I?m likedouble standards, no way am I doing anything like THAT, and it wasn?tbecause of my relationship or because of my parents. It was a personalchoice that I just made."

Fisher calls London home and is emphatic about her reluctance to movepermanently to LA. Yet, as the newest Australian on the rise, the actresssays that she has been welcomed in the City of Angels by what she laughinglyscoop you in. She adds that her greatest mentor amongst Hollywood?s Aussieelite, is Naomi Watts, with whom she worked on I Love Huckabees. "She hasgiven me great advice, is very sweet and nice. You know, you get rejected amillion times and she?ll always say, you just got to get one part, so she?sgreat." As to why it is that Australians have emerged as that rare outsidecultural group succeeding in Hollywood, Fisher has no answer to that. "Iwish I knew. I think it?s just that we?re free spirited and we travel a lot."

Fisher will next be seen in the low-budget Indie film, London, which hasnothing to do with the city she calls home. "The film is set at a partywhich my character is hosting, all these people come and she?s very outragedby the antics that go on: just the opposite of Gloria in Wedding Crashers."And she gets to play an Australian. "I acted in my own accent for the firsttime in a long time, which was quite fun."

While she plans on writing and future scripts, Fisher insists that herfuture plans do NOT include working opposite her fiance. "It wasn?t thateffective for Nicole and Tom Cruise on Eyes Wide Shut, was it?"

WEDDING CRASHERS OPENS ON AUGUST 11..