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.
“I love to tell stories to my kids,” she tells The Weekly, once the passports have been found. “One of the perks of being an actor is that you have a bunch of silly voices in your back pocket to whip out at bedtime.”
Sometimes the stories Isla creates revolve around the minutiae of family life or imagined adventures. Other times they relate to typical childhood concerns.
“I think reading books and telling stories are great ways to connect with your children,” she says, “and there’s often a teachable lesson that leads to interesting discussions.
