Isla Fisher, 33, is engaged to Sacha Baron Cohen. They have a baby daughter and houses in London and LA. Isla shot to fame in Home And Away before going on to star in films such as Wedding Crashers. Her film, Confessions Of A Shopaholic, is out on February 20
Are you a shopaholic?
No, not at all. I can safely say I am not a fashionista. I see something in the shop and bring it home and it looks terrible. What’s my weakness? I always buy hair bands and then lose them and later find them all around the house in random places.
Any designers you admire?
When you work in the film business you go to premieres and stylists bring you a rack of beautiful frocks and you try them on. I gravitate towards the simplicity of Calvin Klein, I also love Stella McCartney, she just makes women look really sexy but still modest. I’m not really someone who gets off on the whole red carpet thing but there’s a lot of unspoken pressure on young women to get it right – it’s become an industry.
Do shops make you excited?
Oh yes, just not clothes shops. If I am in a bookstore, I am over the moon when I see all the different books. And I love going to hardware stores and looking at all the paint and thinking: ‘I could do so much painting in the house.’ Somehow I will always leave with lots of brushes and tins of paint.
What are your extravagances?
Probably food. I love good food and I love to eat in nice restaurants. I love Japanese food. I love Gordon Ramsay in London, he is pretty amazing.
What is your addiction?
Breast feeding. I do intend to stop before Olive goes to university but I’m not promising.
‘I can safely say I am not a fashionista. I see something in the shop and bring it home and it looks terrible’
Do you spend a lot of time working out?
Before I did this movie I’d gained 60lb (27kg). Everyone says the weight just magically dropped off me but it didn’t. I worked out with a trainer every couple of days. I don’t like junk food, just because I don’t like the taste of it, but I don’t go to the gym – ever. I’m not great on the beauty regime. I’m the girl who sometimes leaves the make-up on and falls asleep. But, you know, when you’re a mom, your sleep is a priority and everything else is sort of secondary and unfortunately a beauty regime is very time consuming. And all the hours that I could spend primping, waxing and blow-drying can be put to better use – sleeping.
Do you see yourself primarily as a comic actress?
I thought of myself primarily as a dramatic actress until Sacha said to me one day: ‘You are so funny, you need to be looking for comedic roles.’ It had never crossed my mind before. I phoned my dad and said: ‘Dad, do you think I’m funny?’ and he said: ‘Yes, you are the clown of the family, what do you mean?’ So I looked through some of my childhood photo albums and I saw photos of myself and I was always doing something crazy and I realised I was funny.
You have converted to your husband’s religion, Judaism, why is that important to you?
I love Judaism, the fact that there’s such a huge emphasis on family and, to me, family’s everything. We’re quite observant, we keep Shabbat and do Friday night dinner and celebrate the holidays. I really enjoy being part of that Jewish community. I have visited Israel recently and I love it there. I speak a bit of Hebrew and they recognise me from Home And Away so it’s great.
Where is home for you?
I was always quite nomadic so that wasn’t really important before but now, having a family, roots mean much more to me, just because it’s easier to get more sleep that way with a baby. I like LA but I do miss Australia – the beaches, the Vegemite tin cans, my friends and the smell of suncream every day.