Behind Isla Fisher and Elsa Pataky’s seemingly surprising friendship

While at first glance it may seem surprising, Isla Fisher and Elsa Pataky’s friendship actually makes a lot of sense.

The two actresses have been spending plenty of time together in Byron Bay in recent weeks, and on Tuesday, Isla, 44, shared a photo from the Hemsworth’s farm.

Tagging Elsa, 44, in the photo, Isla shared a beaming photo of herself alongside the Hemsworth’s pony, Akoha.

‘Don’t worry, we were both tested before we took this pic,’ she captioned the photo, prompting Elsa to comment, ‘Little Akoha!!’

Akoha was born in early December, and Elsa shared a video of herself helping to deliver the foal in the middle of the night. 

‘This is unbelievable. So incredible,’ Isla commented on the post at the time.

But aside from their mutual love for Akoha, Isla and Elsa have plenty of other things in common.

Isla has been married to Sacha Baron Cohen since 2010, the same year Elsa married Chris Hemsworth. 

They each have three children, all roughly around the same ages. 

Isla and Sacha, 49, have been holidaying in Byron Bay in recent weeks after relocating to Sydney from Los Angeles late last year.

They even attended Chris and Elsa’s space-pirate themed New Year’s Eve party, which was hosted at Liam Hemsworth’s $6.5million home nearby. 

Isla shared a photo of herself in costume on Instagram, and captioned it: ‘C’mon 2021 it’s time to zap Covid #thankf**kforthevaccine #happynewyear’. 

Meanwhile, Isla started her career on Home and Away, appearing on the soap from 1994 until 1997.

Chris, 37, also got his start on the iconic Aussie drama, appearing from 2004 until 2007.

They’ve both remained close with their former co-stars from the series, and in a January 2019 interview with Men’s Health UK, Chris revealed he considered returning to Home and Away after his Hollywood career stalled. 

‘I was about to quit… I was at the stage of thinking, “I’m going to go back to Australia. I’m going to knock on Home and Away’s door and ask them for a gig,”‘ he confessed.

In an interview with marie claire Australia in May 2018, Isla revealed her dream was to one day move to Byron Bay. 

‘I have this secret fantasy of slowing down, moving to Byron Bay, getting off the grid and sitting on the sand with a Vegemite sandwich,’ she said at the time.

Meanwhile, Elsa told Vogue Australia in January 2020 that she’d had a similar fantasy before trading LA for Byron Bay in 2014.

‘My goal was always, when I have kids, to be in a place that’s not the city. I want them to grow up in nature, because I crave that…’ she said. 

‘My dream was always to have a farm and horses. When we were trying to find a property, I had to have a place where I could have horses and my kids could be with them and enjoy that, too.’