The Interview: the actress and author Isla Fisher on clown school ­— and marrying Sacha Baron Cohen, the biggest clown of all

“I’ve worked with a ton of comedians — but nobody is funnier than my husband”

The Sunday Times
ART STREIBER / AUGUST

Isla Fisher is doubled over with laughter as she describes the time she took her father and stepmother to visit Sacha Baron Cohen on set in Cape Town, where he was shooting a movie. “We walked on set and my husband’s head popped out of an elephant’s vagina and he said, ‘Hi, honey’.” She shakes her head as she wipes away the tears. “I just thought, ‘Why didn’t I read the call sheet or text to say we were on our way?’ ”

The scene is typical of his brand of humour — a level of almost unthinkable provocation and absurdity that has underscored his performances as multiple fictional characters — most notably Ali G, Borat and Brüno. In the 2016 movie in question, Grimsby,