Hollywood actress Isla Fisher is no stranger to comedy. She has been a part of a number of memorable films in the genre including Wedding Crashers, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Hot Rod. You would think Fisher would have gotten used to the occasionally bizarre requirements of the genre and the lengths that actors will go to for a laugh.
But as it turns out, the actress was not prepared for one particular scene involving an elephant in the movie Isla Fisher made with her then-husband Sacha Baron Cohen, 2016’s The Brothers Grimsby. Cohen, of course, is known for pushing the boundaries of comedy like no other actor working today. Things got so intense that Fisher regretted bringing her parents on set to watch the scene being filmed.
The Rise Of Comedy Star Sacha Baron Cohen
After first breaking out into the Hollywood mainstream with the hilarious mockumentary Borat in 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen established himself as a comedic leading man like no other with 2012’s The Dictator. People went into a Sacha Baron Cohen movie expecting to see something unique and bizarre, where the chances of the audience feeling entertained would be just as likely as them feeling offended.
The Brothers Grimsby was very much a movie in a similar vein, starring Cohen in the lead alongside Mark Strong, with Isla Fisher playing a supporting role. One of the film’s most outrageous seuqences is a callback to an iconic Jim Carrey scene from Ace Venture: When Nature Calls.
The Scene Isla Fisher Regrets Letting Her Parents Watch Getting Filmed
Audiences get to see Sacha Baron Cohen’s character Nobby trapped inside the posterior of a fake elephant, while another elephant tries to be intimate with the edifice. As Isla Fisher recalled in an interview, shooting the scene provided a memorable incident that her parents will not soon forget.
“[My dad and stepmum] really wanted to see Sacha working, but I neglected to check the call sheet. I took them over to set and all I could see were two animatronic elephants surrounded by the film crew. We got closer, and we couldn’t see Sacha anywhere. Then suddenly, my husband popped his head out of the elephant’s vag**a and proceeded to fight against the other elephant’s erect p**is. I saw my stepmum’s face – and my mouth was just opening and closing like a goldfish, but no words could come out.”
While Fisher was able to look back on the incident with amusement, the boundary-pushing comedy of The Brothers Grimsby proved too much for general audiences. The movie opened to mixed reviews from critics and failed to make a mark at the box office.
The Controversy Surrounding The Brothers Grimsby‘s Rebel Wilson And Sacha Baron Cohen
The Brothers Grimsby has also been in the news lately for other, more unsavory reasons. Isla Fisher’s fellow actor in the movie Rebel Wilson recently came out with a series of accusations against Sacha Baron Cohen for pressuring her to do objectionable acts while making the film.
In turn, Cohen’s representatives came out with a denouncement regarding Wilson’s allegations. Around the same time, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen jointly announced the end of their marriage. The former couple also revealed that they had jointly filed for divorce in 2023. This has led to speculations regarding the role Rebel Wilson’s accusations played in Fisher and Cohen publicly announcing their split a year after it took place.
The Brothers Grimsby is now available for streaming on AppleTV+.
