Isla Fisher reveals the surprising reason she loved coming home to Australia to film new movie

Isla Fisher has spent more than two decades building a Hollywood career — but it was only when she recently came home to Australia that she felt like a bona fide star.

The Perth-raised actress, 50, has revealed she received a surprisingly warm welcome when she returned to Queensland to film her latest Hollywood comedy, Spa Weekend.

And after years of working overseas, Isla admitted there was something particularly satisfying about being recognised on home soil.

'It was amazing,' Isla told The Daily Telegraph.

'Everyone was like "Oh hello, Isla". I got treated how American actors get treated in America. It felt so good!'

The reaction came nearly 25 years after she filmed her international breakout Scooby-Doo in Australia — but this time she wasn't simply returning home.

She was making an American movie in her own backyard while playing an unmistakably Australian character.

In Spa Weekend, Fisher plays Mel, the chaotic, inappropriate and unfiltered friend who crashes a luxury getaway being enjoyed by three old friends, played by US stars Leslie Mann, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau.

And rather than hiding her Australian roots, Isla was encouraged to embrace them.

'I definitely was channelling a lot of people from my childhood. There's something about Aussie women. We're just tough,' Isla said.

'We play dirty – and so there's been something fun about playing Mel with that backdrop of how I was raised and bringing that kind of bogan, Perth Aussie thing into this quite uptight American puritanical group.'

The actress had initially been reluctant to make Mel Australian, worried the character could end up reinforcing tired stereotypes.

But directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore — the filmmaking duo behind The Hangover and Bad Moms — convinced her to embrace her Aussie roots.

It meant Isla could do something she has rarely been able to do in her Hollywood career: be herself. 

The actress also drew on her own personality to create Mel's unpredictable streak, including her tendency to act on impulse.

'I definitely feel like that's a part of the character that I leaned into,' Isla explained. 

'I feel like she's always looking for a dopamine hit – however she's going to get it.'

The Gold Coast production doubled for Los Angeles, giving Isla the unusual experience of playing an Australian woman in an American movie while filming Down Under.

And the film's Australian setting appears to have made the experience all the more enjoyable for the actress.

Spa Weekend follows four women attempting to escape the pressures of everyday life while navigating the so-called 'sandwich generation' — juggling children, ageing parents, careers and relationships.

But for Isla, it was a full circle moment to return to the country where her career began.

After years of being the Australian actress making her mark in Hollywood, she was finally back on home turf — and enjoying the kind of welcome she says American actors routinely receive in the US.

'It felt so good,' she said.