'I feared that I was about to drown': Isla Fisher reveals moment daring underwater stunt went terrifyingly wrong

A-lister got into trouble after being submerged in a tank of water for a stunt

New film 'Now You See Me' shows actress as female Houdini



Actress Isla Fisher says she feared for her life when a stunt went ‘horribly’ wrong on the set of her latest movie.

The 37-year-old plays a glamorous escapologist in Now You See Me – which starts with dramatic shots of her freeing herself from shackles while submerged in a tank of water.

The scene demanded she bang desperately on the glass walls to give the impression of being in distress . . . but when her chains became entangled, she revealed that she started to panic for real.

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Gasping for air: Isla Fisher panicked when chains became tangled during this underwater stunt

VIDEO Isla Fisher's water tank stunt in trailer for Now You See Me

Fisher – who is married to Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen – said she was unable to reach a safety button that would have drained the thousands of gallons of water in seconds, while a safety diver with a canister of oxygen was too far away too reach her.

The former Home And Away actress, who also stars in Baz Luhrmann’s £60 million new version of The Great Gatsby, said she got into trouble after being submerged for two-and-a-half minutes.

‘They had a guy who was off camera, but he was a long way away with a can of oxygen,’ she said. ‘By the time I realised I couldn’t get up and beckoned for him, I realised that I had run out of air.’

New release: A still from Fisher's new movie 'Now You See Me,' pictured with Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson

Fisher said she knew there was a ‘kill switch’ nearby that would have drained the tank in 70 seconds, but she couldn’t reach it.

However, she added: ‘Luckily, I managed to get free and stay level-headed and got out before it went even more horribly wrong.’

She also said that in her moment of panic she thought: ‘Not in a swimming costume. No one wants to go in a swimming costume.’

However, Fisher, a mother of two, said: ‘I don’t see myself as particularly brave. I rely on gut instinct to accept a role. If something terrifies me I am going to do it. The director [The Incredible Hulk’s Louis Leterrier] said to me, “Wow. I’ve worked with so many actors on big action movies, and you’re the only one who’s done all their own stunts.”

Love: Australian actress Isla Fisher with her British actor husband Sasha Baron Cohen

‘I said I didn’t know I had a choice. I thought you just had to get on with it. It’s the Australian way.’

Fisher, who grew up in Australia, spent days submerged in the tank of water in a sequinned swimming costume and high heels for her role as Henley, a female Houdini.

But she has previously said she isn’t afraid of letting her glamorous mask slip for the sake of a movie, telling one interviewer: ‘I’m willing to pull a bad face, and to sweat a bit.’

Now You See Me, which tells of a group of magicians who use their skills to rob banks, opens in America next month. It also stars Morgan Freeman and Sir Michael Caine.

Roaring twenties: Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby and pictured in the arms of Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan

Sticky end: Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby, due to be released soon