Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2139
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Isla Fisher works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Isla Fisher appears in 29 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Isla. Back to the Outback is the clearest case: a film rated 7.6 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, crime, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jon Lucas, Ruben Fleischer, Peter Hastings and others, Isla Fisher helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Back to the Outback (2021) as Maddie (voice) · Dog Man (2025) as Sarah Hatoff (voice) · Nocturnal Animals (2016) as Laura Hastings
Career snapshot
Ranked #2139 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
29
2002–2026
Career length
24 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.6
Back to the Outback
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.6
Back to the Outback
Most frequent director
Louis Leterrier
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Louis Leterrier
Most common genre
Comedy
21 titles
Average runtime
1h 42m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.4
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.4 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. The Beach Bum, Tag, Keeping Up with the Joneses — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.4
Across 12 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.4
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Confessions of a Shopaholic, Horton Hears a Who!, Definitely, Maybe.
Most productive era
2010s
12 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.32 films | 6.83 films | 6.32 films |
| Action | 6.41 film | 6.64 films | 6.82 films |
| Thriller | 6.71 film | 7.32 films | 6.61 film |
| Comedy | 6.57 films | 6.17 films | 5.87 films |
| Crime | 6.71 film | 6.52 films | 6.61 film |
| Romance | 6.45 films | 6.42 films | 6.41 film |
| Horror | — | 5.31 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2002Scooby-Doo
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Mary Jane.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
7.6 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Spa Weekend
The current state of the argument, as Mel.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
29 of 29 films
as Maddie (voice)
Directed by Harry Cripps
as Maggie (voice)
Directed by Josh Greenbaum
as Henley Reeves
Directed by Louis Leterrier
as Sarah Hatoff (voice)
Directed by Peter Hastings
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Maddie (voice)
Back to the Outback (2021)
Performance score8.1
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Maddie (voice) gives Isla Fisher a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Maggie (voice)
Strays (2023)
Performance score7.6
Strays asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Maggie (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Henley Reeves
Now You See Me (2013)
Performance score7.6
Now You See Me asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Henley Reeves is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Sarah Hatoff (voice)
Dog Man (2025)
Performance score7.5
Dog Man asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Sarah Hatoff (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Maddie (voice)
Start here. Back to the Outback is the clearest statement of what Isla Fisher does — accessible, 92 minutes, and rated 7.6 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Isla at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Now You See Me (2013)
A deliberate change of key after Back to the Outback — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
Keeps the thriller register of Now You See Me but asks for a colder reading of it.
Strays (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Nocturnal Animals — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Dog Man (2025)
Keeps the comedy register of Strays but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Louis Leterrier
Director
2 films together
Notably Now You See Me
Raja Gosnell
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo
David O. Russell
Director
1 film together
Notably I ♥ Huckabees
David Dobkin
Director
1 film together
Notably Wedding Crashers
Akiva Schaffer
Director
1 film together
Notably Hot Rod
Scott Frank
Director
1 film together
Notably The Lookout
Adam Brooks
Director
1 film together
Notably Definitely, Maybe
P.J. Hogan
Director
1 film together
Notably Confessions of a Shopaholic
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably Rango
Leslye Headland
Director
1 film together
Notably Bachelorette
Peter Ramsey
Director
1 film together
Notably Rise of the Guardians
Baz Luhrmann
Director
1 film together
Notably The Great Gatsby
Tom Ford
Director
1 film together
Notably Nocturnal Animals
Greg Mottola
Director
1 film together
Notably Keeping Up with the Joneses
Jeff Tomsic
Director
1 film together
Notably Tag
Harmony Korine
Director
1 film together
Notably The Beach Bum
Harry Cripps
Director
1 film together
Notably Back to the Outback
Josh Greenbaum
Director
1 film together
Notably Strays
Noah Baumbach
Director
1 film together
Notably Jay Kelly
Michael Morris
Director
1 film together
Notably Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Peter Hastings
Director
1 film together
Notably Dog Man
Ruben Fleischer
Director
1 film together
Notably Now You See Me: Now You Don't
Jon Lucas
Director
1 film together
Notably Spa Weekend
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Louis Leterrier
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Now You See MeHarry Cripps
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Back to the OutbackPeter Hastings
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dog ManTom Ford
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nocturnal AnimalsBaz Luhrmann
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Great GatsbyPeter Ramsey
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rise of the GuardiansJosh Greenbaum
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
StraysGore Verbinski
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RangoAdam Brooks
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Definitely, MaybeJeff Tomsic
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TagScott Frank
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The LookoutRuben Fleischer
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Now You See Me: Now You Don'tP.J. Hogan
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Confessions of a ShopaholicDavid Dobkin
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wedding CrashersMichael Morris
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bridget Jones: Mad About the BoyAkiva Schaffer
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hot RodDavid O. Russell
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I ♥ HuckabeesNoah Baumbach
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jay KellyGreg Mottola
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Keeping Up with the JonesesRaja Gosnell
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-DooHarmony Korine
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Beach BumLeslye Headland
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BacheloretteJon Lucas
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spa WeekendSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Back to the Outback
as Maddie (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
I ♥ Huckabees
as Heather
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Back to the Outback
as Maddie (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Isla Fisher has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
24 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
21 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Rise of the Guardians
as Tooth (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Now You See Me
as Henley Reeves
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Scooby-Doo
as Mary Jane
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Dog Man
as Sarah Hatoff (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Dog Man
as Sarah Hatoff (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Rango
as Beans (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Now You See Me: Now You Don't
as Henley Reeves
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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