Strange Things About Isla Fisher And Sacha Baron Cohen's Marriage

Australian actress Isla Fisher and British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen make up one of Hollywood's longest-lasting couples. Best known for her comedic turns in hit movies like Wedding Crashers, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Bachelorette, and for showing off her dramatic flair in The Great Gatsby, Fisher is also the celebrated author of the Marge in Charge children's book series. Meanwhile, audiences might sooner recognize Cohen's satirical original characters like the Kazakhstani journalist Borat Sagdiyev, rapper Ali G, and gay fashionista Brüno than the man himself. However, Cohen's multi-hyphenate achievements have earned him a number of accolades, including the BAFTA Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy in 2013.

Unlike other celebrity couples we know, these lovebirds have largely kept their longtime romance quiet after first meeting at a party in Sydney, Australia in 2002. There's probably a lot you don't know about this showbiz pairing. So, keep on scrolling to learn some of the strangest facts about Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen's marriage.

Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen announced their engagement just two years after their fateful Australian meet-cute. While the couple couldn't wait to tie the knot, they put their wedding plans on hold for six years for one very meaningful reason: the actress needed time to convert to Judaism before their big day. "I wouldn't say I am a religious Jew," Cohen told NPR (via The Telegraph) in 2007, but added, "I am proud of my Jewish identity and there are certain things I do and customs I keep." 

To the outside observer, it may seem as though Fisher found religion overnight. However, per tradition, she made her full conversion after three years of intense studying — not that she minded. "I will definitely have a Jewish wedding just to be with Sacha," she explained to The Evening Standard. "I would do anything — move into any religion — to be united in marriage with him. We have a future together, and religion comes second to love as far as we are concerned." Sharing the Jewish faith with her husband is something Fisher cherishes, as she later told C Magazine (via The Express) in 2013, "I love the focus on family, food, and laughter."

Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen secretly tied the knot in March 2010, according to WHO magazine (via People). During an intimate, traditional Jewish ceremony held in Paris, the duo exchanged their vows in front of just six guests, who were reportedly given "very little notice." 

As Woman's Day (via People) reported at the time, Fisher reportedly alerted their friends and family of their nuptials via email, writing, "We did it — we're married!" She added, "It was the absolute best day of my life and in so many beautiful moments I missed you all so much. I thought of you as everything was happening, but Sacha and I wanted no fuss — just us!" Details on the happy couple's low-key wedding have since remained admittedly scarce, but that isn't too surprising. According to People, the actress previously hinted at keeping the "beautiful ritual" on their big day under wraps in a 2009 interview, saying, "When you are in the public eye, to keep that private and to make it happen without it being really visible is really difficult." Fisher-Cohen 1, the public 0.

From Borat to Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen's tendency to pair guerrilla-style filmmaking with his controversial comedic characters used to get him into trouble early on in his career ... which only kept his relationship with Isla Fisher all the more interesting. Rather than discussing mundane household chores, their topics of conversation typically moved into a much more surreal realm. "Instead of 'Hey, Honey, did you pick up the dry cleaning?,' it was 'Did you get beaten up? Are you getting sued? Is there a warrant out for your arrest?'" Fisher told Details magazine in 2007 (via People). 

Legal risks aside, Cohen's zany projects would sometimes even lead to him getting hurt. "Once, Sacha came back from work while he was shooting Brüno and he had red welts and blood all over his back, and his thumb was broken," his wife recalled to Square Mile in 2016, adding, "When I asked him what had happened, he just said it was a 'workplace injury.'" For a long time, this line of questioning remained the married pair's version of normal. "Luckily when he started to make fictional films like The Dictator, we didn't have to have those kinds of conversations," Fisher continued. "Because there were no legal implications."

Couples who scheme together, stay together — at least in Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen's case. Readers may remember that Cohen infamously dumped ashes on television personality Ryan Seacrest as his titular character from The Dictator on the Oscars red carpet in 2012. When the Academy asked the actor to present at the event four years later, they refused to let him appear in character again. However, with the help of his sleuthing wife, he crashed the telecast as his rapper alter-ego Ali G.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! shortly after, Fisher revealed how the married pair pulled off the controversial prank. "He said, 'I want to sneak in and do Ali G but I can't find any of the costume on my body because they're gonna put me through metal detectors and be ultra suspicious. Sweetie, will you fit giant yellow glasses, a hat, a glove, and a beard inside your spanx?" she told the late-night host (via the Daily Mail). Fisher successfully smuggled the costume into the event. However, the show's producers started asking questions when she helped Cohen change in the restroom, so she said he had a stomachache. "I had to lie to everyone, which made me feel really guilty," Fisher admitted. "And then they gave me all these Tums, so I had to eat them so it wouldn't look suspicious."

After getting her start on the Australian soap opera Home and Away in the mid-'90s, Isla Fisher moved to the United States to pursue a career in drama. However, she eventually moved in a different direction at her funnyman beau's encouragement. "Sacha was the reason I got into comedy. I was actually auditioning for a lot of dramatic roles and having no success at all," she told Indie London in 2009. "I was losing confidence in my abilities when he recommended that I do comedy. He felt I was really funny, so when someone as funny as him recommends that, I listened." 

Fisher quickly scored her "big break," starring opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in 2005's Wedding Crashers. Comedy might not be where she envisioned ending up, but it's where she's "the happiest." As she admitted to Square Mile, "I love to tap into my inner idiot. It's addictive, the Adrenalin hit of going for a laugh and not knowing whether it will land or not."

As of this writing, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen share three young children: daughters Olive and Elula and son Montgomery (via the Daily Mail). Since expanding their little clan, both actors have continued to work steadily in the industry, but have understandably scaled back considerably in order to focus on family life.

"I love acting. It's the greatest form of escapism," Fisher told Square Mile, but added, "I am happy doing one film a year." While mainly takes on supporting roles, she went on to note that Cohen tends to make a movie just every few years. "We're together all the time," Fisher said of this ideal arrangement during an interview with The Telegraph. "I'm lucky enough to be able to stay at home and be with my family. I used to devour every script, but now I'm focused on my family life, which has brought me so much satisfaction in a deep way." 

While, Isla Fisher prefers to protect the couple's kiddos from what she does for a living, Sacha Baron Cohen is known to take on a slightly more transparent approach. "I try not to bring it home. They're only exposed to the fun parts like picking a pretty dress and having hair and make-up done," Fisher told Marie Claire in 2018, but noted that her partner in life tends to bring his work home — at least in part. When previously asked by Square Mile whether Cohen stays in character at home, she said, "No, thank goodness. Only visually."

For the actors themselves, this is simply part of their normal. However, it's understandably led to some confusion for their children. "You live with the handlebar moustaches, the mohawks, everything, the costumes," Fisher explained during her 2016 appearance on the British talk show Lorraine (via the Independent). "It's hard to drop the accent if you're doing it all day on set. Obviously the kids would get very confused when they were tiny and the dictator would be holding Elula. It was very amusing."

Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen have both struggled to reconcile their personal lives with being famous. According to The Telegraph, they typically "split their time between Los Angeles and north London," which is where their work often takes them. However, despite living in two cities that are paparazzi central, they're known to keep their longtime relationship out of the spotlight, and have managed to maintain most of their anonymity in Hollywood while successfully shielding their family of five from the prying cameras.

"We kind of get away with it," Fisher told Details magazine in 2007 (via People). "I'm knocking on wood." She later told the Daily Mail, "I'm not really comfortable talking about my private life and Sacha and I are probably very similar in that we hide our feelings behind humor." Indeed, for his part, Cohen is known to take things a step further than his famous wife by mostly giving interviews while in character.

Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen have worked steadily in the same industry throughout the entirety of their longtime romance, but didn't team up on a project until their 2016 comedy, The Brothers Grimsby. Unfortunately, the couple's first professional collaboration wasn't nearly successful as their real-life marriage. 

The movie was a box office flop. Failing to impress critics and audiences alike, it scored a low 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. "The Brothers Grimsby showers viewers with a steady stream of Sacha Baron Cohen's edgy humor," the site's critics' consensus read. "But too many gags hit the wrong side of the line between audacious and desperate." Ouch. Undeterred by the general response, Fisher told Square Mile, "I would love to work with Sacha again." However, of his out-of-the-box, hands-on brand of comedy, she added, "But not on anything that wasn't staged. It's too dangerous."

While it doesn't sound like future collaborations are out of the question, we just hope Fisher and Cohen's sophomore effort is more of a swing and less of a miss.

According to the rumor mill, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen were reportedly experiencing some pretty serious marital woes in late 2018. At the time, a source cited by Australia's NW claimed that the married pair were living "separate lives," saying, "Isla doesn't really visit Sacha when he's working. It's just too hard with school and the kids' activities. But this means she's often on her own doing it all."

Luckily, this hearsay was quickly debunked by the actress' own rep, who told Gossip Cop the story was merely "a fabrication." However, the one reason these two would ever call it quits probably isn't what you're expecting. During a radio interview with Nova 96.9's Smallzy, Fisher joked that she'd leave the actor if he got caught up in a long-running game of tag, as portrayed in her 2018 comedy Tag. "Honestly, [if that happens], I'm slipping the ring off and throwing it in his face," she quipped (via the Daily Mail). "I wouldn't be attracted to someone who [played the game]," she added. "My legs [would] lock and load forever."

Well, there you have it, folks. These lovebirds are ride or die for each other ... and the rest of us probably shouldn't believe everything we read.

It's no secret that Hollywood is known for churning out some pretty brutal celebrity breakups — which makes longterm relationships like Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen's seem all the more strange. So, what makes their longtime marriage work?

While describing their meet-cute as "winning the lottery," Fisher told Marie Claire that these "polar opposites" have "a shared sense of humor and a willingness to be married." Of their marital success, she explained to Square Mile, "Communication is important and having a date night. It is really easy to have a kid-oriented marriage, so just one night a week we try to go out." Whether they're glamming it up on the red carpet or keeping it casual while out and about on a coffee run, it sounds like this celeb pairing couldn't be happier as they continue to exhibit total relationship goals. 

Be honest, is anyone else taking down notes?

It's all fun and games until you cut your wife's favorite joke out of a film and she threatens never to speak to you again. Such was the case when Sacha Baron Cohen decided to axe a joke from Borat 2. Apparently, Isla Fisher was a fan of a particular punchline from the debutante ball scene, but as the editing process for the Amazon flick went on, her hubby fell out of love with it. Fisher explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live, saying that she sometimes gets "too opinionated," but came to see his point of view after her tongue-in-cheek threat of the cold shoulder. But that wasn't the first time there was tension for Fisher over a Cohen project.

Fisher also recalled to Kimmel about a disastrous visit she made to the set of Bruno, another of Cohen's undercover mockumentary works, at a time when the guerilla-style shoot was being raided by police. "I never went back again," Fisher laughed. Cohen also described the incident with The New York Times, describing it as "a mistake." His solution from then on? "If there's anything dangerous that I'm going to do, I just don't tell her until it's over."