Isla Fisher addresses return to water tank in Now You See Me after stunt went ‘horribly wrong’

Despite almost drowning during a stunt that involved her being chained up in a water tank more than a decade ago, Isla Fisher was submerged once again on the set of Now You See Me: Now You Don't.

The actor sat down alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Dominic Sessa to promote the third instalment of the franchise - which is earmarked for release next Friday (November 14) - but she infamously had a stunt go wrong in the original production back in 2013.

In the first Now You See Me, Fisher plays illusionist Henley Reeves, who finds herself chained at the bottom of a glass tank surrounded by piranhas.

What audiences didn’t realize at the time was that the panic on Fisher’s face was very real - her chains had actually become tangled and the crew initially thought she was still acting.

It took two-and-a-half minutes before Fisher - who was born from Scottish parents in Muscat, Oman, before moving to Australia - managed to escape.

"By the time I realized I couldn't get up and beckoned for him [a crew member who had an oxygen tank for her], I realized that I had run out of air," she told Cosmopolitan in 2013. "Luckily, I managed to get free and stay level-headed and got out before it went even more horribly wrong."

Now, speaking with UNILAD, the 49-year-old admitted that stepping back into the water this time around felt a lot less terrifying.

When asked whether she took part in any other risky stunts in the trilogy of the franchise, Fisher replied: "No, no - on this one I didn't."

But the Horsemen found themselves in a bit of a sticky situation once again, which she revealed: "No, we were in a water tank, however, all of us - and we had a great time! But it was very safe and the sand was just rising gently... alongside Woody [Harrelson]... mystery!"

Isla Fisher began trapped in the tank for real (Lionsgate)

Fisher also joked that there was one daring exploit she bravely took on.

"I think the greatest stunt I pulled off was staying off WhatsApp in Abu Dhabi, which we were warned we were not allowed to use - and for someone like me who relies heavily on it [it was difficult]!" she added.

Her co-star Eisenberg added that director Ruben Fleischer leaned hard into the magic in the latest instalment of the franchise.

"A lot of the magic we did in this movie - not just the original Horsemen, but the younger tripod - was trying to do kind of all the magic on camera," he explained.

"So for example, I have this little trick where I reveal a diamond and it took weeks to practice this one little trick - but that's because Ruben really wanted the movie to feel more realistic."

If you're a fan of Ocean's Eleven and Inside Man, then Now You See Me: Now You Don't is unmissable - watch it in theaters next Friday (November 14).