In the delightful new romantic comedy, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, Isla Fisher plays the irrepressible Rebecca Bloomwood, an incorrigible spender who simply cannot stop herself buying anything and everything. Obsessed with fashion, she loves to shop and her finances spiral dangerously out of control. She stars opposite Hugh Dancy, who plays her boss: the editor of a financial magazine.
Just about everyone will identify with Isla Fisher's profligate but highly endearing character, Rebecca Bloomwood, in the upcoming romantic comedy, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC. The talented and vivacious Isla Fisher stars in the delightful film, based on the novel of the same name by Sophia Kinsella, who acted as a consultant on the film. She portrays the deliciously debt-laden, compulsive shopper who gets into a huge financial mess, simply because she just can't stop herself. Obviously Manhattan is the worst possible city to feed into her addiction, where temptation lurks at every turn, step or taxi ride.  Ironically, this spendthrift ends up as a financial advice columnist. 
Witty and brimming with lively, physical humor, Isla's journey is full of drama and big surprises. Her leading man is the equally gifted Hugh Dancy. They are joined by an impressive cast that includes: Kristin Scott Thomas, Lynn Redgrave, John Lithgow, Joan Cusack, Krysten Ritter and John Goodman. Patricia Field designed the fabulous costumes.  The director is P.J. Hogan and Jerry Bruckheimer is the producer.
Isla Fisher, 32, was born in Scotland, grew up in Australia and studied theater arts in Paris. The actress spent several years on Australia's well known soap opera: HOME AND AWAY. Her first substantial film role was in SCOOBY-DOO. In the last few years she has made a name for herself as a remarkably talented comic actress. Her credits include: I HEART HUCKABEES, WEDDING CRASHERS, THE LOOKOUT and DEFINITELY MAYBE.             
The following interview took place on the set of the movie, at Manhattan's Jumeirah Essex House Hotel.  Isla Fisher looked radiant, wearing a black and white Versace dress, with a chiffon flounce, her red hair flowing down her back.  The stars of the film were all dressed in   glamorous evening attire, for this pivotal comic scene, which takes place at a charity ball at Manhattan's Rockefeller Center. Becky has arrived at the elegant gala, but her very attractive boss, Luke, is with another woman. Chaos ensues when our heroine is mistaken for a waitress.

Q: What kind of girl is Rebecca?
A: "Rebecca Bloomwood is one of the most charming heroines in any kind of story.  She is a girl with lots of wonderful qualities and one gigantic flaw, she can't stop shopping.  She's constantly getting into messes but is ingenious enough to get out of them.  She's warm, fun, optimistic and   deep down is a very good person, with this one massive weakness. Oh my gosh, she is wonderful; she just wants to make the world beautiful. She has a brilliant imagination, she is someone who is so self deprecating, so humble and sweet, but at the same time she unfortunately ends up in trouble. But she is always so well meaning, she wants the best for everyone and she is a really good girl. She just loves to shop. I love this heroine. You know, people refer to the genre that Maddie Wickham (Sophia Kinsella) writes as 'chick lit' but I prefer to call it 'wit lit' because she is such a funny writer."

Q: How is extreme is her flaw - most women will relate to this passion for shopping won't they?
A: "It gets pretty bad, it definitely does.  Rebecca is somebody who is just like all of us, shopping picks her up, cheers her up when she's down, she always thinks she needs something new and she is almost like a child in a candy store when she's shopping, she just gets overwhelmed by all the shiny objects."

Q: Specifically she loves fashion, doesn't she?
A: "She loves fashion and I must say it is fantastic working with Patricia Field and getting to wear all these amazing clothes. Rebecca is quite eclectic, she doesn't tend to always go for designer labels, she will shop around and get a vintage accessory to match with something, she goes for different styles and looks. The best thing about her is that her eccentric personality comes out in what she wears herself, she is wonderful."

Q: She does go for some designers, doesn't she?
A: "Yes she does. She has picked some amazing designer outfits from Todd Oldham to Zac Posen to Pucci to Gucci to Versace - to Prada to Dolce and Gabbana - it is a wonderful mix of the greatest designers. I have learned so much about fashion working on this movie."

Q: What is your favorite outfit?
A: "There is one outfit I love that is a leopard print mini dress with a leopard print belt and leopard print bag and leopard print boots. In any other universe that would be way too much leopard print, but it is not too much for Rebecca."

Q:  How much do you identify with Rebecca?
A: "I do love fashion, although I am not as obsessed with shopping as Rebecca is. But I have been known to peruse the shops in my spare time and enjoy it. And in terms of clothes, I tend to be a little more casual than she is, I am more of a jeans and t-shirt girl. I love J Brand jeans at the moment and I love James Perse t-shirts, that is what I tend to live in most of the time, but then I am a mum. I am pretty sensible in all my purchases."

Q: Any Rebecca style shopping extravagance?
A: "I have to say that my weakness would be shoes and handbags. I love everything when it comes to bags, I adore vintage bags, but then I love a gorgeous Dolce bag too. As a gift at the start of the movie, Jerry Bruckheimer kindly bought me a beautiful Prada bag, so that is my favorite   at the moment, it is a small chocolate brown barrel bag that is really great and can fit everything in it."

Q: What is it like working with Hugh?
A: "It is so lovely working with Hugh, he is such a down to earth guy. He has that lovely acerbic British wit, which I love and we have a lot of fun together."

Q: There seems to be a lot of physical comedy?
A: "Yeah and I am always wearing stilettos which has been interesting, but I remember once reading a quote that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but with very high, massive stilettos. She kept up with him and did all those moves with him - but in those very high heels and I have to say, I know how she felt because I have to wear them doing tricky physical comedy. You have to do a pratfall and when you do it in heels, it definitely adds an element of danger."

Q: How would describe the theme of the movie?
A: "The theme of the movie is about accepting your flaws and doing something about them.  Both Becky and Luke have to learn about themselves in different ways and change their lives."

Q: Can you explain what you are doing in this scene?
A: "In this scene I spin around and smash into a waiter and food goes everywhere and I have to repeat it many many times which is a lot of fun, it is hard work but I love it, this is my favorite kind of thing to do. I don't fall in this scene, but I have done in other scenes. I do have bumps and bruises, I have a lot of injuries, I've injured my finger, I cut my hand, I scraped my leg I bruised my leg and landed on my wrist. Nothing major though."

Q: Would you say you are a natural at this kind of physical comedy?
A: "I don't know - we'll see - but I definitely enjoy it."

Q: What are the challenges for you of making this kind of romantic comedy?
A: "I think a main challenge in this style of film is just tone - you want to find the right balance between making it real and being someone to whom girls can relate. And the love story has to be authentic, yet at the same time you want to keep the comedy. Comedy is a heightened reality and you have to make sure the jokes work and that you get some great funny moments, without sacrificing the character. So it is always a fine line between authenticity and making a fool out of yourself:  tapping into your inner idiot, but at the same time staying true to the story and not taking it too far."

Q: You have an impeccable American accent, does that come easily?
A: "Well I am not sure that my dialect coach would agree with you about my accent, it can be easy sometimes, but when I get tired it is hard to keep focused on getting it right."

Q: How do view the role your extraordinary looks have played in your career?  Are you careful not to get typecast?
A: "I think it is always difficult navigating the rapids of your career, just because every choice you make is important. Unfortunately there is a lot of pigeonholing in the business, people tend to associate you with one type of character that you have played and that they remember, or one genre of film. If you want to have a diverse career and get to experience the emotional landscapes of lots of different people, then I guess you have to be very careful about the roles you pick and I tend to pick roles that speak to me for whatever reason."

Q: So how does Rebecca Bloomwood speak to you?
A: "She is someone I think a lot of women will relate to. She is like all of us. And that is what is so wonderful about the way the character is written: you think 'oh god that is just like me', and then you meet 100 other girls who all say 'that's me too'."

Q: It is not only clothes she loves to buy is it?
A: "She loves everything and she is the queen of impulse buying. Shop now think later is her motto. At one point, for example, she thinks she is turning over a new leaf, so she decides to save money by spending money. So she buys a series of very expensive leather notepads which she calmly rationalizes are worth it because they will last eight times longer than the cheaper ones, so she thinks they are actually effectively half the price. She has this wonderful logic that she applies to everything and it is hilarious."

Q: What is it like working with P.J. Hogan, the director?
A: "I find P.J. to be a bit like Peter Pan. He actually directed PETER PAN, he is very enthusiastic and has a child like enthusiasm for his job that really rubs off on everyone and it makes being on set an extremely positive experience."

Q: Was that one of the attractions of making the film?
A: "It was definitely and the fact that we are both Australian was fantastic.  I just feel that from watching his other movies, he really understands women. Muriel was a real multi dimensional woman in his film MURIEL'S WEDDING, Julia Roberts was a real woman, she was flawed but we still loved her in MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING and that's why I felt like he was so right for this movie. It was a perfect marriage, because Rebecca Bloomwood is a flawed person like we all are. But so often in these romantic comedies, the leading lady is just sweet or one dimensional, so a bit boring."

Q: How important is it for you to continue with your own writing - as well as acting?           
A: "I still write a lot and as P.J. would probably protest - I rewrite most of my lines. I can't control myself, but I just love writing, it is such a wonderful creative outlet, I really enjoy it. I have written teen fiction and really loved doing that."

Q:  You seem to be carving out an interesting path for yourself?
A: "I hope so, I am definitely not following anyone else's career trajectory, eventually I want to write and create my own roles, because it can be hard for women. But I don't have enough time to focus on writing at the moment, because I have been so busy."

Q: Do you have plans and goals?
A: "I love to keep life as an open book, so I don't really plan at all. I am enjoying my life and work so much at the moment. It is completely thrilling, I feel so grateful. What's interesting about my career perhaps stems from my attitude to life: I always felt grateful and happy, even when I was totally unemployed, living in Paris and studying at Clown school and not having enough money to get by.  Even then, I felt like my career was going really well. At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark greeting card, I see my career more as a journey and I always have done."

Q: Is Australia still home for you?
A: "Yes it really is home, I love going back, but I live in London now which is great."   

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