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Through a thoughtful interview, Miranda Otto opens up on subjects as varied as her latest role as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest role is the monarch of the cuttlefish in The Pout-Pout Fish; if you could be a fish for a day, which one would you choose and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper found at a specific shoreline – since it is like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. It strikes me it’s cool that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Favorite to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. During my childhood, it would air on the ABC every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I just thought it was hilarious. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a masterful work of comedy and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not successful. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.

A Priceless Lesson Learned From a Co-Star

What is the most valuable lesson you took away from someone a colleague?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but back then we were not a couple. We portrayed characters as scene partners and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then our performance took off again and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained in that moment was, first, consistently rely on the individuals in your scene. If you don’t know your place, by looking and toward the actors you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position somehow. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And next, to maintain a sense of fun regarding it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things can ignite in a really great way provided you are really present then. It may become an unexpected boon when things go completely awry.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

What’s been your most touching interaction with a fan?

There isn't just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of accounts about what Eowyn meant to them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and the extent to which Eowyn signified for them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

What do you get asked about the most by Lord of the Rings fans?

The most detailed question is always about the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into such a joke, the whole thing about the stew, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and its preparation method, and do you think she’s a better cook now, or do you think she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, fascinated by the humour of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that made up the stew – as I recall what they did; like they even adding pieces of colored thread to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. They went to great detail to render it as unappetizing as possible.

A Cringeworthy Star Encounter

What was your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?

I was at a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the instructor said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made some joke inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker and often when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. At that point, I was at a loss for words. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Source of a Moniker

Articles have repeatedly stated that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Indeed, I was named after a district in Sydney. My mother heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and she thought seemed a nice name.

Chaos on Set

What was the chaotic thing that’s ever happened on set?

While working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon that was the least organized set of my career, and yet the final product emerged incredibly well. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel way of working for me. The elements were all coming together at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know the next location the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in during a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Oh, it’s the producer opening some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Secret Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I memorise words often, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Finest Piece of Advice Given

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

During my time in high school, a speaker came to speak as we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from failure than is gained from success. Success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. Failure, the lessons are abundant.