Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Israel News

Ms. Ali G. Mulls Tribal Rite

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?

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.