Isla Fisher: My co-star thought I was bulimic

Isla Fisher claims her co-star assumed she had an eating disorder when she was suffering from morning sickness on a film set.

The Australian actress has just finished filming Burke and Hare – a black comedy set in Scotland about two Irish migrants who killed people in order to sell their bodies for scientific research.

The low-budget film stars Simon Pegg and was directed by John Landis, who also directed Michael Jackson’s Thriller promo.

Isla said that while shooting the film she was struggling with morning sickness but Simon just assumed she was making herself ill in order to keep slim.

“I was actually pregnant during the shooting and I had severe morning sickness and I didn’t eat anything and I just vomited all the time,” she told BBC Breakfast Show “Simon Pegg is the least observant actor in the planet because he didn’t notice. I think he presumed I was just a typical Hollywood bulimic actress rather than the fact that I was severely sick.”

The 34-year-old star – who has just given birth to her second child with Sacha Baron Cohen – launched her acting career on Australian soap opera Home and Away.

It was the same show that featured stars such as Heath Ledger and Naomi Watts before they hit the big time in Hollywood.

Isla believes Home and Away attracted budding talent because there weren’t many other high-profile shows in her home country.

“I think there weren’t many work opportunities in Australia at the time so we did our work experience on Home and Away, she said. “Everyone says to me, can you believe that you went from Home and Away to Hollywood and sometimes we will be shooting a movie like this and it’s freezing cold and it’s grey and you’re wearing a corset and it’s icy weather and you think, ‘Actually I wish I was back on Home and Away filming on a beach.’ ”

Isla admits being a female comic star in the film industry can be tough but it has become a little easier in recent years with the emergence of high-profile comediennes.

She believes the answer lies in being as unique as possible and carving out an individual role.

“I think you have to create your own role in Hollywood…if you want to get out there and make a fool of yourself you have to create it for yourself which is what I’ve been trying to do,” she explained.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.