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In a candid discussion, Miranda Otto reflects on topics ranging from her newest character as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Fish for a Day

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

Without hesitation, the blue groper residing near a specific shoreline – since it is a local landmark, and individuals visit to see it. It strikes me it’s cool that there’s a local fish that people actually seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Favorite to Return To

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. During my growing up, it used to come on the ABC every now and again, and once I videotaped it. I just thought it was so funny. It stars the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was also the favourite film of an acquaintance, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It’s such masterful work of humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing often.

The Best Insight Learned From a Fellow Actor

What is the most valuable lesson you learned from someone you’ve worked with?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but back then we were not together. We portrayed characters opposite each other and during the premiere I stumbled – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, 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 people in your scene. If you don’t know your place, if you turn around and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, performing live. And next, to maintain a sense of fun regarding it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things can ignite in a really great direction provided you are fully engaged then. It may become an unexpected boon when things go completely awry.

Memorable Exchanges with Fans

Can you describe your most touching interaction with a fan?

It’s not just one specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I hear a lot of stories about what Eowyn meant to them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and the extent to which that character signified for them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and everyone wants to know what was in the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion 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 constituted the stew – because I remember what they did; like they even put bits of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed great detail to render it as bad as they could.

An Awkward Star Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?

I was at a fitness session and another participant on a mat doing pilates, and the instructor remarked, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and often when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. 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 what to say. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I do know who you are!” I think her talent is immense and I was simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

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

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. Mum heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and the name seemed a nice name.

Pandemonium on Set

What’s the most 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 I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product turned out incredibly well. But the local crew operated in such a different way. Their concept of time there is unique. Typically, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a really different approach for me. The elements were all coming together at the very last minute, and sometimes the plan was unclear where they were shooting the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in the middle of a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that just interrupted the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member popping open some champagne during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was great, but goodness, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Hidden Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field involving numbers, like math or accounting.

The Finest Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone addressed us when we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends exactly how it happened. Failure, the lessons are abundant.