Ms. Ali G. Mulls Tribal Rite

By Gabriel Sanders July 22, 2005

Sacha Baron Cohen’s knack for reinvention may be contagious. Earlier this month, Isla Fisher, the Ali G. creator’s actress fiancée, announced that she’s considering converting to Judaism. The sexy redhead, who was born in Oman to Scottish parents who later relocated to Australia, told Britain’s “This Morning” television show that, not having grown up with much in the way of religion, she finds Cohen’s faith fascinating. “I’m constantly asking him questions about it,” she said. “It’s really beautiful and complex.”

Fisher, who is now starring in the Vince Vaughn-Owen Wilson buddy movie “Wedding Crashers” (see story below), is following in the footsteps of such starlets as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Kate Capshaw, all of whom converted for their Jewish husbands.

Busy with publicity, Fisher wasn’t able to take the Forward’s call. But if we’d gotten her, there are two things we’d have loved to ask: If she had to marry one of Cohen’s alter egos, which would she choose? Would it be the swaggering, pot-obsessed Ali G., Kazakh travel reporter Borat Sagdiyev or Austrian hipmeister Bruno? Better yet, while sitting in a chair hoisted high above her wedding guests as they dance the hora, which of Cohen’s personae would she be most upset to see crashing her party?

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO