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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Isla Fisher has said that she ran out of oxygen while filming the underwater escape scene in Now You See Me (2013), after her chain became stuck. She also recalled that people initially mistook her distress for part of the performance. “Near-death experience” is a shorthand for Fisher’s account, not a medical finding or an independently verified production-safety report.
What happened during the underwater scene?
Fisher played Henley Reeves, an escapologist whose introduction includes an underwater escape from shackles in a tank staged to suggest danger from piranhas. In a June 2013 Red Carpet News TV interview, Fisher said that while filming she ran out of oxygen and her chain got stuck. She recalled thinking she might die “in a swimming suit, bloated behind glass.”
Fisher said she had no signal to tell the crew she was in trouble, and that people thought her distress was acting. She said she paddled down and freed herself. Her account describes a frightening mishap, but the interviews do not establish a complete independent chronology of the incident.
Why did people think she was acting?
The scene called for Fisher’s character to struggle underwater as part of an escape act. Fisher said she could not signal that the danger was real, so her movements were initially interpreted as performance. That explanation comes from her recollection; the available interviews do not independently document what each crew member saw or when they understood she needed help.
#1 Best Overall
- NOW YOU SEE ME 1 & 2 BD DGTL [Blu ray]
- Product type: PHYSICAL MOVIE
- Brand: Lionsgate
How her accounts differ
Fisher told the story in a contemporaneous interview in 2013 and revisited it in an Esquire interview in November 2025. The later version adds safety details; those details should not be treated as a verified technical account of the set.
| Account | What Fisher recalled | Safety details mentioned |
|---|---|---|
| June 2013, Red Carpet News TV interview | Her chain got stuck, she ran out of oxygen, had no signal to alert people, and paddled down to free herself. | The interview account cited here does not specify a safety-switch setting, quick-release hatch, or nearby stunt performer. |
| November 2025, Esquire interview | She said her handcuffs caught and described eventually reaching the surface. | Fisher recalled a safety switch that would drain the water after six minutes. Esquire also recapped an earlier account involving a quick-release hatch and a nearby stuntman. |
The two tellings agree on the central problem—Fisher said her restraints caught underwater—but differ in the details they provide. The six-minute setting and other safety mechanisms are recollections reported in connection with the later account, not independently verified production figures or a complete safety record.
Rank #2
- The Four Horsemen return along with a new generation of illusionists performing mind-melding twists, turns, surprises, and magic unlike anything ever captured on film.
What she said about preparing for the scene
In a 2013 ComingSoon set interview, Fisher said she had practiced holding her breath and described being chained at the bottom of a large tank. She said the water was heated and called the experience “great fun” at the time. That comment about the filming experience does not negate her separate account of becoming trapped during a take.
Quick Recap
Best Value
![Now You See Me [4K Ultra HD + Blu-Ray + Digital HD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KxrJNSp4L._SL160_.jpg)
- NOW YOU SEE ME pits a crack FBI squad in a game of cat and mouse against a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists, who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances, showering the profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of the law.
Rank #4
![Now You See Me 2 [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bhBdBprjL._SL160_.jpg)
- From Summit Entertainment. Sequel to the 2013 hit NOW YOU SEE ME.
Rank #3
- The Four Horsemen return along with a new generation of illusionists performing mind-melding twists, turns, surprises, and magic unlike anything ever captured on film.
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