“
THISPAGE:MAXABADIAN/CORBISOUTLINE
novel set in the Roaring Twenties. That
same fearlessness— greasedby a genuine
sweetness andaneasygoingmirth— char-
acterizes thewayFisher approaches every-
thing in life.
Forallherbravery,Fisheradmitstotrepi-
dationaboutauditioningforoneofher idols,
Gatsby
director Baz Luhrmann (
Moulin
Rouge!
,
Romeo+Juliet
).
“Actually, I, um, read forBaz at theCha-
teauMarmont,” saysFisher, her voice sud-
denlyhushed.Shenodsatanadjacentcorner.
“I tookmymeetingon thesofasover there. I
wassonervous.Iwasthinking, ‘Don’tspeak.
Don’tsayanythingbecauseyou’llruin it!’”
Luhrmannhasnever forgotten theaudi-
tion.Thatmightbebecause,ashedescribes
it, Fisherwas “fearlessly leaping round the
room, jumping up on the couch, miming
a cigarette, while we riffed on the possi-
bilitiesofMyrtle.”Shewas, he remembers,
“fantastic.”
“I was looking for an actress who, in
Fitzgerald’s words, had something like
a real vitality, as if thenerves of her body
were smoldering,”Luhrmann says. “More
than that, shehad to carry a great deal of
humanity and sympathy— after all, in the story, it is
theworking-classpeople, ofwhomMyrtle isone,who
aretheoneswhoaresmashedup,whiletherichretreat
back intotheirmoney.”
For her part, Fisher says she relished theopportu-
nity toplayacharacterwithsuch“impressivehauteur.”
“She’ssortof theoppositeofGatsby,”Fishersays. “She’s
sosymbolic inthestory.”
Fisher’smostdangerousstunt in
Gatsby
wasn’tdanc-
ingtheCharlestonwithoutspillingherchampagne.The
actress foundherselfharnessed inacontraptionresem-
blingahumancatapult forakey scene (no spoiling the
details). “It’s sort of like a ridewhereyou’remechani-
cally thrown into theairand then lowereddownquite
quickly,”Fisherexplains.“That’stheirony:I’mterrified
ofeverythingandyetIgetthese jobs!”
Perhapswe shouldn’t
be surprisedat Isla
Fisher’s courageousness. After all, she ismarried to
SachaBaronCohen, thechameleonicBritishactorwho
appearedontheOscarredcarpetasthetitularcharacter
from
TheDictator
andpouredanurnofashesoveranun-
suspectingRyanSeacrest.Priortothat,BaronCohenset
theKazakhstan touristboardbackbyat least20years
followinghisportrayalofaKazakhvillageidiotin
Borat
.
Justdon’taskFisherhowshe tamed themanwhoonce
went so faras topromote
Borat
byposing inamankini
thong. (Apologies forthatmental image.)
“I’venever spokenaboutmyhusband in interviews,”
Fishersays.“IknowhowIfeelwhenI’mtryingtoplease
TheEver-Quotable
IslaFisher
Likeher comedy, IslaFisher’sopinions are
BOLD
.
Don’t believeus? Just keep reading.
Onwanting tocollaboratewith[
HorribleBosses
director]SethGordon,
SethMacFarlaneandSethRogen:
“I loveSeths!”
Onbeing funny:
“At school I used toget kickedout of class formaking
jokes. Iwas alwaysbeing funnywith friends, but I never thought you
couldget a jobas agrown-up just beingyourself.”
Onher secretcrush:
“If Iwas ever tomarrya fictitious character, itwould
beGatsby.”
Onwhetherornot she’deverdoanaction flick:
[Adoptingadeep
voice tomimic the serious toneof an imaginary futureblockbuster]
“SEALTeam6and the small, 5-foot-2ginger.”
On fame:
“This is thebest and theworst partsof fame: I don’t have
to tellmyparents someof the things I’vebeenup to, because they’ve
already readabout them. That’s also theworst part because, before
I got engaged, for example,myparents kept reading Iwas engaged. They
weregetting insulted that I hadn’t clued them in. Thatmisinformation
is annoying.”
OnGooglingherself:
“I havedone it in thepast, and I learned Iwould
never do it again. Someonewrote thatwithmy fringe,mybangs, I looked
likeAndrewLloydWebber. I saw thepictureand I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s
quiteastute.’”
—S.H.
48
MAY 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
