As expected, Isla attended the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTAs) in Sydney earlier today, where she was presented with the Trailblazer Award. She was accompanied on the red carpet by her husband, and her mum Elspeth was inside for the ceremony with them. Isla was presented with her award – which she calls the “pinnacle” of her career – by Aussie actor Geoffrey Rush, and thanked fellow Aussie actresses and fellow orange person Donald Trump in her speech! Isla wore a classy black crystal polka dot dress by Aussie designer, with Bulgari jewellery. Read more from the night in the posts below (many of the links have good red carpet video interviews and ceremony footage in them that can’t be embedded here) and find the first HQ photos in our Gallery. Check back in the coming days for more coverage!
Congratulations to Isla on this fantastic honour – and on her 15th anniversary with Sacha! 🙂
• Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards x13
Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen have a date night at the AACTAs
Happily posing with fans together and separately, Isla Fisher and her husband Sacha Baron Cohen walked the red carpet at the 6th Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts Awards at the Star Event Centre in Sydney.
“It’s so absolutely amazing,” Fisher, 40, tells WHO of receiving the AACTA Trailblazer Award, which honours a film or television figure who has inspired others with his or her body of work.
The Nocturnal Animals and Wedding Crashers actress says with a nod to her Home and Away days, “I feel like yesterday I was holding a hamburger phone to my ear at the Summer Bay diner and now I am lucky enough to be getting recognised and honoured by someone like Geoffrey Rush.”
Of Rush, Fisher says with admiration, “He’s one of the most incredible and accomplished actors.”
As for Fisher’s look for the evening, she was proud to wear Australian designer Alex Perry’s black and white polka-dotted dress. “And I’m wearing Bulgari jewels,” she adds, showing off her bracelet and rings, “and my earrings are by…”
She pauses with a slight look of panic. “I’ve forgotten. Shoot. Let me just…” she says, then turns back to Cohen, who has been hanging back, taking in the scene.
‘Trump shows unqualified orange people can win things’: Isla Fisher wins Trailblazer award at AACTAs
ISLA Fisher accepted her Trailblazer Award at the AACTAs by pulling a Melania Trump and “stealing” Michelle Obama’s speech.
The 40-year-old was presented the award on Wednesday night in Sydney by Geoffrey Rush, who dubbed the actress a “firecracker” who “enjoys tapping into her inner idiot”.
“I really have to thank my fellow actors, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Margot Robbie and Toni Collette – all of whom were no doubt offered this award first and they couldn’t make it here tonight so, yay!” Fisher joked during her acceptance speech.
Then she took a page out of Melania Trump’s book, who was famously accused of plagiarising a speech Michelle Obama delivered in 2008.
“From a young age my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in this life, that your word is your bond, you say what you want to do and you keep your promises, that you treat people with respect,” Fisher said with conviction, before pointing out she’d also copied the words from the First Lady.
”I figured if Melania Trump can use them and have success, I should try,” she said.
After joking about the lack of roles for “gingers” – “because Amy Adams took them all” — Fisher then took one final dig at Donald Trump.
“I do need to thank Trump. I don’t think I’d be here if it weren’t for him showing the world that unqualified orange people can win things.”
Fisher said she had to stop herself from crying on stage, particularly when she looked down and noticed that her mother Elspeth was shedding a few tears in the audience.
Being handed her AACTA trophy by acclaimed Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush was a surreal experience, she said.
“There’s no question that this is the pinnacle of my career so far and a complete honour to come home and be supported. It feels incredible.”
Speaking about the role of women in film, in light of a colourful protest on the red carpet earlier where female filmmakers dressed as sausages disrupted the fashionable proceedings, Fisher said she’d experienced her own difficulties.
“I did not see the sausages,” Fisher laughed.
“When I first came to Hollywood, I really wanted to get into the world of comedy but all of the roles I read, the women (characters) would roll their eyes and the men would do funny, crazy stuff.
“I waited and waited and I was fortunate to be cast in Wedding Crashers – playing a bipolar nymphomaniac. But yes, women are funny. People want to go see women stories.”
ISLA JOKES ABOUT GETTING OLD
Watching a montage of her film and television roles, from long-running soap Home And Away to new release Nocturnal Animals, Isla Fisher thought that maybe it was time for botox.“I’m getting old,” the Trailblazer Award recipient laughed.
“Watching that, I realised that I probably need plastic surgery at some point. I’m getting old. No please, don’t write that down – I’m just joking.”
Fisher said she had to stop herself crying on stage, particularly when looking down and noticing that her mother Elspeth shedding a few tears in the audience.
Being handed her AACTA trophy by acclaimed Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush was a surreal experience, she said.
“There’s no question that this is the pinnacle of my career so far and a complete honour to come home and be supported. It feels incredible.”
Speaking about the role of women in film, in light of a colourful protest on the red carpet earlier where female filmmakers dressed as sausages disrupted the fashionable proceedings, Fisher said she’d experienced her own difficulties.
“I did not see the sausages,” Fisher laughed.
“When I first came to Hollywood, I really wanted to get into the world of comedy but all of the roles I read, the women (characters) would roll their eyes and the men would do funny, crazy stuff.
“I waited and waited and I was fortunate to be cast in Wedding Crashers – playing a bipolar nymphomaniac. But yes, women are funny. People want to go see women stories.”
Today is extra special for the actress, who celebrates her 15-year anniversary with husband Sacha Baron Cohen. The pair met in Sydney, she said.
Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen celebrate 15th anniversary on AACTAs red carpet
AUSTRALIAN star Isla Fisher and her British comedian husband Sacha Baron Cohen spent their 15th anniversary on the red carpet at the AACTAs.
When Baron Cohen was asked what he gave his wife to mark the occasion, the 45-year-old replied: “I got her some kids. I’ve done my bit. They are all coming — they are in the post.”
In a rare public appearance as a couple, Fisher described her happiness to be home and receiving the Trailblazer Award.
“I am completely over the moon,” Fisher, 40, said. “It’s so nice to be home. It’s wonderful.
“I have my husband and my family here.”
Baron Cohen, famous for his roles as Borat and Ali G, joked he was wearing his famous lime green mankini underneath his suit.
Fisher’s mother, Elspeth, also joined her daughter on the red carpet and said she was very “proud”.
She was also a fan of her son-in-law, saying the first time she met him, she thought: “Isn’t he handsome, isn’t he gorgeous, don’t they look happy together.”
Fisher said she was most looking forward to swimming at Bondi Beach.
The couple, who are based in Los Angeles, have three children — Olive, 8, Elula, 5, and one-year-old son Montgomery.
Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen confused by AACTAs red carpet sausage demonstration
Mel Gibson, Isla Fisher, Sacha Baron Cohen, Boy George, Paul Hogan and Geoffrey Rush all helped make up the star-studded line-up at the sixth annual AACTA Awards on Wednesday night, but it was demonstrators dressed as sausages who really stole the show.
More than a dozen participants from Women in Film and Television (WIFT) somehow managed to break past the security guards and barriers at The Star in Sydney and make their way onto the red carpet chanting, “end the sausage party”, in protest at a lack of female representation at the awards.
“We’re here dressed appropriately for Australia’s biggest sausage party,” one young woman donned in a brown sausage suit told Fairfax Media.
“We’re calling on AACTA to serve up some more transparency in their really poor gender performance.”
Trailblazer Award winner Fisher, a vocal advocate for more comedic roles for women in Hollywood, missed the demonstration by minutes but added a different humanitarian message to the mix.
“Too many sausages are eaten without much regard for the animal behind them,” she laughed.
Trailblazer Award winner Fisher, a vocal advocate for more comedic roles for women in Hollywood, missed the demonstration by minutes but added a different humanitarian message to the mix.
“Too many sausages are eaten without much regard for the animal behind them,” she laughed.
“Were they pork sausages?” Fisher asked, before pointing to her husband of six years: “I enjoy his sausage.”
Would Isla Fisher consider heading back to Home and Away?
Well, it seems so.
The actress portrayed Shannon Reed in the Summer Bay soap from 1994 to 1997, but has since found success in a number of Hollywood films.
However, it seems that she hasn’t ruled out a return to the show which made her famous.
“I’d go back to the Bay for sentimental reasons.” Isla told TV Week at last night’s AACTA Awards.
Isla’s movie success includes roles in The Wedding Crashers, Definitely, Maybe, The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me, The Bachelorette, and spy comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses. She also appeared in Grimsby opposite her husband Sacha Baron Cohen.
(Digital Spy)
Including a mention of Wedding Crashers 2, and Sacha’s thoughts on Keeping Up With The Joneses and Nocturnal Animals:
Sacha Baron Cohen & Isla Fisher celebrating 15 years together. "Literally 15 years ago today." https://t.co/ILYmdNcjKP #AACTAs #7News pic.twitter.com/ZlzgGKGcZ6
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) December 7, 2016
Isla Fisher brought her mum and some lad called Sacha Baron Cohen as her dates to the #AACTAs! pic.twitter.com/RO3zrlK8hO
— Amy Croffey (@AmyCroffey) December 7, 2016