Isla Fisher says she feared she would drown during stunt for new film Now You See Me

Isla Fisher in a scene from the film Now You See Me. Picture: AP/Summit Entertainment, LLC, Barry Wetcher, SMPSP

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Actress Isla Fisher says she feared for her life when a stunt went ''horribly'' wrong on the set of her latest movie.

The 37-year-old plays a glamorous escapologist in Now You See Me - which starts with dramatic shots of her freeing herself from shackles while submerged in a tank of water.

The scene demanded she bang desperately on the glass walls to give the impression of being in distress . . . but when her chains became entangled, she revealed that she started to panic for real, the Daily Mail reports.

Fisher - who is married to Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen - said she was unable to reach a safety button that would have drained the thousands of gallons of water in seconds, while a safety diver with a canister of oxygen was too far away too reach her.

The former Home And Away actress, who also stars in Baz Luhrmann's new version of The Great Gatsby, said she got into trouble after being submerged for two-and-a-half minutes.

''They had a guy who was off camera, but he was a long way away with a can of oxygen,'' she said.

''By the time I realised I couldn't get up and beckoned for him, I realised that I had run out of air.''

Fisher said she knew there was a ''kill switch'' nearby that would have drained the tank in 70 seconds, but she couldn't reach it.

However, she added: ''Luckily, I managed to get free and stay level-headed and got out before it went even more horribly wrong.''

She also said that in her moment of panic she thought: ''Not in a swimming costume. No one wants to go in a swimming costume.''

However, Fisher, a mother of two, said: ''I don't see myself as particularly brave. I rely on gut instinct to accept a role. If something terrifies me I am going to do it. The director (The Incredible Hulk's Louis Leterrier) said to me, 'Wow. I've worked with so many actors on big action movies, and you're the only one who's done all their own stunts'.

''I said I didn't know I had a choice. I thought you just had to get on with it. It's the Australian way.''

Fisher, who grew up in Australia, spent days submerged in the tank of water in a sequinned swimming costume and high heels for her role as Henley, a female Houdini.

But she has previously said she isn't afraid of letting her glamorous mask slip for the sake of a movie, telling one interviewer: ''I'm willing to pull a bad face, and to sweat a bit.''

Now You See Me, which tells of a group of magicians who use their skills to rob banks, opens in America next month. It also stars Morgan Freeman and Sir Michael Caine.