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During a revealing discussion, Miranda Otto delves on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest role is Queen 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 a local landmark, and people go there specifically to spot it. I just think as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Film 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. When I was childhood, it used to come on television occasionally, and once I recorded it. I found it was so funny. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at the Ritz and I discovered that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we attended and just laughed and laughed. It is a great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are superb. Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing often.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone a colleague?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but back then we were not together. We portrayed characters opposite each other and on opening night I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene took off again and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained in that moment was, first, always trust the individuals you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, by looking and look at the people sharing the stage with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be somehow. It is a profoundly communal thing, performing live. And secondly, to maintain a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a really great way provided you are really present then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Admirers

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

There isn't just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous stories about what Eowyn meant to them when they were growing up … events that occurred in their lives and how much that character signified for them and was a form of support to them in those times.

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

The most specific inquiry concerns always about the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and how was it made, 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, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I provide great detail listing the ingredients that constituted the concoction – as I recall the efforts made; like they even put bits of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.

A Cringeworthy Star Meeting

What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a fitness session and there was a woman lying down exercising, and the instructor remarked, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time 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 didn’t know words. I was obliged to complete my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of your work!” I consider her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Origin of a Name

Articles have confidently claimed that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

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

Pandemonium on Set

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

When I was working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is really different. Typically, you normally have a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the very last minute, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in during a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s the producer opening some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” It turned out excellent, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been good with numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I probably would have entered a field involving numbers, like math or accounting.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone came to speak when we were graduating and stated, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, since one gains far more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, one rarely comprehends precisely why it happened. With failure, you learn abundant.