Isla in Australian Women’s Weekly

Isla is on the cover of the December issue of Australian Women’s Weekly, looking stunning in a new photoshoot! It’s a good interview too – Isla talks about what she loves about reading and storytelling, her childhood, influences, her Mazy and Marge book series’, The Great Gatsby, moving back to Australia, her upcoming projects, and she also briefly mentions Grimsby and Greed. Find the scans and photoshoot in our Gallery:

Australian Women’s Weekly (Aus) – December 2022 x10
2022 – Session #002 x6

“I get nervous talking about it”: Why Isla Fisher keeps her marriage close to her heart

”I have four other human beings [in my life] and I need to keep everybody happy.”

Isla Fisher is searching for her family’s passports, and their frequent flyer numbers. There was a time when they’d have been at her fingertips, but it’s been two whole years now that she, husband Sacha Baron Cohen and their tribe of three have been largely settled in Australia, and she knows those pesky passports are around here somewhere, but where?

You would think there would be someone who could do this for her. You would think that one of Australia’s most successful and gifted actors (and her brilliant, hilarious husband) would have a retinue of people keeping track of passports. But not so. The Baron Cohen/Fisher household seems to be a very hands-on operation.

Perhaps that’s in part because this comedic bombshell (whose box office hits include Wedding Crashers, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and the 2020 Edward Hall remake Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit) insists that the most important role in her life is motherhood. And her favourite aspect of that role – the one that fills her with pure joy – is inventing tall tales, creating characters and funny voices, and acting out classic stories to amuse her children.

Continue reading Isla in Australian Women’s Weekly

Isla Fisher & Greg Kinnear To Topline Family Comedy “The Present”

Isla Fisher & Greg Kinnear To Topline Family Comedy ‘The Present’ From ‘How To Be Single’ Helmer Christian Ditter

Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Greg Kinnear (Shining Vale) will topline the family comedy The Present, from director Christian Ditter (How to Be Single), which has entered production in Los Angeles.

In the film from Stuart Ford’s independent content studio AGC Studios, a brilliant boy discovers he can manipulate time using an enchanted family heirloom, then teaming up with his siblings to go back to the eve of their parents’ separation in hopes of changing the outcome. As their schemes become more elaborate, the siblings will learn about family bonds and what they can and can’t control. Fisher and Kinnear are playing the parents in search of reconciliation, with Easton Rocket Sweda (General Hospital), Shay Rudolph (The Baby-Sitters Club) and Mason Shea Joyce (Euphoria) portraying the siblings who just might be the only people who can make that happen.

Ross Butler (Shazam!) also stars in the film written by Emmy winner Jay Martel (Key and Peele). Chairman and CEO Ford is producing alongside Linda McDonough for AGC Studios, with Marcei Brown and Jessica Malanaphy for CatchLightStudios (The Aviary). Martel, CatchLight’s Jason Clark, and AGC’s Zach Garrett and Miguel Palos are serving as executive producers.

After directing four German features—all of which were box-office hits and festival favorites—Ditter transitioned to directing English-language films with the rom-com Love, Rosie, following that pic up with New Line’s How to Be Single. He then served as director and executive producer on the Netflix series Girlboss, most recently creating the Netflix series Biohacker, which he’s directed and produced for two seasons.

Fisher stars alongside Josh Gad in the Peacock series Wolf Like Me, which was renewed for a second season last month, and has also been cast in Josh Greenbaum’s upcoming comedy Strays for Universal. The actress is also known for turns in films including Wedding Crashers, Nocturnal Animals, The Beach Bum, Tag, Greed, Now You See Me, The Great Gatsby, Rise of the Guardians, Bachelorette and I Heart Huckabees, among others. Additional TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development.

Continue reading Isla Fisher & Greg Kinnear To Topline Family Comedy “The Present”

Universal’s Animated Comedy ‘Strays’ Adds Isla Fisher

Universal’s Animated Comedy ‘Strays’ Adds Isla Fisher

Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) has signed on to star alongside Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Will Forte and Randall Park in Universal’s animated comedy Strays, Deadline can confirm.

The film from Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar director Josh Greenbaum combines CGI and live-action elements to follow an abandoned dog (Ferrell) who teams up with other strays, including one portrayed by Foxx, to get revenge on his former owner (Forte). Details with regard to the character Fisher is playing have not been disclosed.

American Vandal‘s Dan Perrault penned the script. Greenbaum is producing alongside Picturestart’s Erik Feig, Louis Leterrier, Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Lord Miller President of Film, Aditya Sood, with Jessica Switch and Lord Miller’s Nikki Baida exec producing, and Picturestart’s Julia Hammer serving as co-producer. SVP of Production Development Jeyun Munford and Director of Development Tony Ducret are overseeing the project for the studio. The film is slated for release on June 9, 2023.

Fisher currently exec produces and stars alongside Josh Gad in the Peacock miniseries Wolf Like Me. The actress has also appeared in Arrested Development and other series, as well as such films as Back to the Outback, Greed, The Beach Bum, Tag, Keeping Up with the Joneses, Nocturnal Animals, The Brothers Grimsby, The Great Gatsby and Wedding Crashers, to name a few.

She is represented by UTA, Shanahan Management in Australia and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

(Deadline)

Isla gives update on rumoured “Wedding Crashers” sequel

PopCulture.com asked Isla about the rumoured Wedding Crashers sequel during a recent promotional interview for Back To The Outback. Isla told them:

“I know that a lot of people are trying to make that happen and I guess it’s a really important — or at least joyful memory for a lot of people. So hopefully we can make it come true. I’m definitely not in the loop as to what’s happening right now though.”



Josh Gad, Isla Fisher to Star in Peacock Rom-Com Series

Josh Gad, Isla Fisher to Star in Peacock Rom-Com Series

Peacock has handed out a straight-to-series order for a romantic comedy series starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher.

The duo will topline and executive produce Wolf Like Me, which the NBCUniversal streaming service describes as a “genre-bending” rom-com about two people who bring unique sets of baggage to their relationship. Creator Abe Forsythe (the 2019 feature Little Monsters) will write and direct all six episodes. Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories (Big Little Lies, The Undoing) produces in partnership with Endeavor Content and Australian streamer Stan.

“We fell in love with Abe Forsythe’s imaginative storytelling and gift for creating complex and compelling characters,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “With the incredibly talented Isla Fisher and Josh Gad at the center, Wolf Like Me will be engaging, quirky and wholly original.”

The story centers on Gary (Gad) and Mary (Fisher). Following the death of his wife, Gary is an emotional wreck and struggling to provide for his daughter. Mary, meanwhile, has a secret she can’t bring herself to divulge to anyone. The universe brought these two together; they just need to follow the signs.

“Wolf Like Me is a very meaningful project for me. The stakes are extremely high but grounded by things we can all relate to,” said Forsythe. “I’m so excited to have Isla and Josh on board, and I know the audience will be surprised seeing them in a different way as these characters. I was never going to tell this story with anyone other than Made Up Stories, and I feel very fortunate for us all to be teaming up with Endeavor Content and to have found a home with Peacock and Stan.”

Gad is coming off HBO’s Avenue 5 and is set to star in a Disney+ series featuring his and Luke Evans’ Beauty and the Beast characters, LeFou and Gaston. The voice of Olaf in the Frozen movies, Gad also does voice work on Apple’s Central Park. He’s repped by Imprint, WME, Sugar23 and P.J. Shapiro.

Fisher starred in the 2020 Disney+ movie Godmothered; other recent credits include Blithe Spirit, Greed and the most recent season of Arrested Development on Netflix. She’s repped by UTA and Sloane Offer.

Forsythe executive produces Wolf Like Me with Gad, Fisher, and Made Up Stories’ Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky.

(THR)

Kate Beckinsale To Headline Paramount+’s ‘Guilty Party’ Dark Comedy Series

Isla revealed in her interview with The Telegraph Magazine, published yesterday, that she has dropped out of Guilty Party because she didn’t feel ready to return to work given the on-going COVID-19 pandemic: “I don’t feel ready, personally. I still feel scared. It would be challenging every time I came home, thinking, ‘Could I be exposing somebody in my family?'”.

Kate Beckinsale To Headline Paramount+’s ‘Guilty Party’ Dark Comedy Series

Kate Beckinsale has been tapped for the lead in Guilty Party, Paramount+’s half-hour dark comedy from Funny or Die. She replaces Isla Fisher, who originally was cast in the role but pulled out over pandemic-related circumstances.

Written by Rebecca Addelman (Dead to Me) and to be directed by Trent O’Donnell (No Activity), Guilty Party stars Beckinsale as Beth Baker, a discredited journalist desperate to salvage her career by latching on to the story of a young mother sentenced to life in prison for maiming and murdering her husband — crimes she claims she didn’t commit. In trying to uncover the truth, Beth finds herself in over her head as she contends with Colorado gun smugglers, clickbait culture, the doldrums of marriage and her own tarnished past.

Addelman and O’Donnell executive produce alongside Mosaic’s Sam Hansen and Jimmy Miller, and Funny Or Die’s Joe Farrell, Jim Ziegler, Mike Farah and co-executive producer Becca Kinskey. The series is being produced by CBS Studios in association with Funny or Die and Mosaic.

“Guilty Party is a genre-bending show that tackles contemporary issues – the prison system, the death of print journalism and pervasive gun culture, to name a few – but has, at its core, smart, funny, ambitious and deeply complicated female characters,” Addelman said at the time of the series’ greenlight announcement by CBS All Access (soon to be renamed as Paramount+) in early March, a week before all Hollywood production was grounded by the pandemic.

Beckinsale, best known for her starring role in the Underworld supernatural feature franchise, earned awards recognition for her performance in the 2016 comedy Love & Friendship. In TV, she recently starred in the ITV/Amazon series The Widow. Beckinsale, who next will be seen in Charlie Day’s upcoming directorial debut, comedy feature El Tonto, is repped by UTA, 3 Arts and Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo.

(Deadline)

Isla on the cover of The Daily Telegraph Magazine

Isla featured on the cover of The Daily Telegraph (UK)’s Magazine supplement yesterday, with a brand new photoshoot and interview! The interview and photoshoot were initially conducted at the start of the year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Isla’s movie Blithe Spirit being pushed back, the publication of the feature was delayed, and the interview was re-done last month. It’s a really good interview – Isla talks about Blithe Spirit, why she pulled out of Guilty Party, how she’s handling the pandemic, her family and not talking about her kids publicly, some of her interests (collecting old tea sets), how she feels about aging, Marge In Charge, and her screenwriting. It’s also a beautiful photoshoot – which you can see in high quality in our Gallery. If anyone can help us out with scans from the magazine please get in touch!

Isla Fisher: ‘In the middle of the night, I have those “I can’t quite breathe” moments’
The star of a new film adaptation of Blithe Spirit talks about life with Sacha Baron Cohen and having to cancel work due to Covid worries

In a low-key bakery not far from the Hollywood home she shares with her British actor/comedian husband Sacha Baron Cohen and their three young children, Isla Fisher is telling me about her latest role in a new film adaptation of Blithe Spirit, one of Noël Coward’s best-loved plays.

‘I was so nervous,’ she confesses, dipping a buttered baguette into a bowl of chicken soup. ‘Being an Australian in a British period drama! I was working with my dialect coach and I just thought, “If I get this accent wrong, I’m going to be in so much trouble.”’



It’s an unseasonably cold day when we meet – prior to the pandemic – and wrapped up in a brown coat complementing her trademark long red hair, wearing minimal make-up, she looks a decade younger than her 44 years. Having made an enviable career starring in popular Hollywood comedies – from playing the obsessive Gloria in Wedding Crashers (2005) to the lead role of Becky Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) – her facial expressions and deadpan humour have got her where she is today. And they’re front and centre in Blithe Spirit.

Directed by Edward Hall (son of former National Theatre director Sir Peter), this lively adaptation of the 1941 comedy classic tells the story of a crime novelist (Dan Stevens) visiting an eccentric mystic, Madame Arcati (Judi Dench), in search of inspiration. She then accidentally summons the spirit of his first wife (Leslie Mann), who becomes embroiled in a hilarious love triangle with his current wife (played by Fisher). ‘Judi Dench is the greatest living actress on the planet and I was in a scene with her. I mean, that’s pretty amazing.’

Read full interview

Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce Voicing Netflix’s Animated ‘Back to the Outback’

Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce Voicing Netflix’s Animated ‘Back to the Outback’

Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver, Tim Minchin and Keith Urban have joined the voice cast of Netflix’s animated comedy adventure “‘Back to the Outback,” which will make is global debut in the fall of 2021.

The voice cast will also include Miranda Tapsell, Angus Imrie, Rachel House, Keith Urban, Celeste Barber, Wayne Knight, Aislinn Derbez, Diesel Cash La Torraca and Lachlan Ross Power. Clare Knight (editor of “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” and the Kung Fu Panda trilogy) and Harry Cripps are the co-directors. Daniela Mazzucato produces and Weed Road Pictures’ Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans, who developed the story with Cripps, executive produce.

Cripps scripted the story, set in a reptile house where humans gawk at Australia’s deadliest creatures, who plot a daring escape from their zoo to the Outback. Leading the group is Maddie (Fisher), a poisonous snake with a heart of gold, who bands together with a self-assured thorny devil lizard Zoe (Tapsell), a lovelorn hairy spider named Frank (Pearce), and a sensitive scorpion called Nigel (Imrie). When their nemesis — Pretty Boy (Minchin), a cute but obnoxious koala — unexpectedly joins their escape, Maddie and the gang have no choice but to take him with them, pursued by Bana’s zookeeper.

“I have always been touched by stories of hidden beauty,” said Knight. “Maddie is both uniquely beauty and beast, and to get to present that message in comedy is the icing on the cake.”

Cripps said, “Growing up in Australia, I spent a lot of time in the Blue Mountains which has many different types of snakes and spiders, and I always preferred them to the cute cuddly animals, so it’s such a treat to make a film where the heroes are these poisonous but beautiful little creatures. This film is a love letter to Australia’s incredibly diverse and unique wildlife.”

(Variety)