Isla Fisher - Career

Career

She began appearing in commercials on Australian television at the age of nine, before going on to win roles in popular children's television shows Bay City and Paradise Beach. At the age of 18, with the help of her mother, she published two teen novels, Bewitched and Seduced by Fame, an in a 2005 interview, Fisher admitted that had she not been successful as an actress she would probably have been a full-time writer. From 1994 to 1997 she played the role of Shannon Reed on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. In 1996, she won a Logie Award nomination for Most Popular Actress for her role. After leaving the soap, Fisher enrolled at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, a theatre and arts training school in Paris and went on to appear in pantomime in the United Kingdom. She also toured with Darren Day in the musical Summer Holiday and appeared in the London theatre production Così. In 2001, Fisher was cast as Kim in the German horror film Swimming Pool.

In 2002 she had a part in the film version of Scooby-Doo as Mary Jane, Shaggy's love interest who is allergic to dogs. She wore a blonde wig for portraying her role because Sarah Michelle Gellar was supposed to be the only redhead in the film. The following year, she portrayed the character Kristy in the Australian comedy The Wannabes. Subsequently, Fisher was taken on by an American agent. A larger role in Wedding Crashers (2005), alongside Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, won her the Breakthrough Performance Award at the MTV Movie Awards. While promoting Wedding Crashers, she was officially crowned the 1000th guest on Australian talk show Rove on 2 August 2005. She entered the set ahead of Owen Wilson, winning the title by two metres.

In 2006, Fisher starred as Becca, a Manhattan party host, in the relationship drama London co-starring Jessica Biel, Chris Evans, and Jason Statham. She played the role of Katie in the romantic comedy Wedding Daze with Jason Biggs. In 2007, she appeared in The Lookout, a thriller film co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew Goode, and Hot Rod, opposite Andy Samberg. She was scheduled to appear in The Simpsons Movie, although her appearance was cut from the final version. In 2008, she starred in the critically acclaimed romantic comedy film Definitely, Maybe, with Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Breslin, and had a voice role in Horton Hears a Who! Fisher has also co-written a script entitled Groupies with Amy Poehler, as well as another project entitled The Cookie Queen. She starred in the movie adaptation of the book Confessions of a Shopaholic, which opened on 13 February 2009. In the film, Fisher played a college graduate who works as a financial journalist in New York City to support her shopping addiction. Confessions of a Shopaholic suffered critically but eventually opened at No.4 grossing $15,054,000 on its opening weekend. Fisher received her third Teen Choice Award nomination.

Fisher has spoken out against the lack of opportunities for comediennes in Hollywood. In 2010, she starred in the black comedy Burke and Hare. Fisher then voiced the role of Beans in Rango, a computer-animated Western film released in March 2011. In the movie, Johnny Depp and her Definitely, Maybe co-star Abigail Breslin also provide voice-over roles.