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During a revealing discussion, Miranda Otto opens up on topics ranging from her newest character as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons learned through theatrical mistakes and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Fish for a Day

Your latest character portrays 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, that particular fish residing near a specific shoreline – since it is a local landmark, and individuals visit to see it. It strikes me it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Film Favorite to Revisit

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. During my growing up, it used to come on television every now and again, and once I videotaped it. I just thought it was so funny. It stars the legendary Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at the Ritz and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such great piece 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 a brilliant comedy, worth viewing regularly.

The Best Insight Learned From a Co-Star

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

I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – now my spouse, but back then we were not together. We were playing opposite each other and on opening night I tripped up – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I was unaware of my error but I abruptly sensed things were off. I remember looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene took off again and went really, really well. But I think what I learned in that moment was, first, always trust the people you’re working with. If you don’t know your place, by looking and toward the actors sharing the stage with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be in some way. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude about it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things can ignite in a wonderfully positive direction provided you are fully engaged then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Memorable Exchanges with Fans

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

It’s not a single specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of accounts about what Eowyn meant to them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and how much Eowyn meant to 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 question is invariably regarding that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into such a joke, the whole thing about the stew, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and its preparation method, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? People are, I think, obsessed with the humour of that situation. And I provide great detail listing the ingredients that made up the stew – because I remember what they did; like they even put bits of red cotton to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. They went to extreme measures to make it look as bad as possible.

A Cringeworthy Star Encounter

What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a pilates class and another participant on a mat exercising, and the instructor remarked, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. At that point, I didn’t know words. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

It’s been repeatedly stated 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?

Indeed, I was named after the Sydney suburb. My mother heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and she thought seemed a pleasant choice.

Pandemonium on Location

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 least organized set of my career, and yet the film emerged brilliantly. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is really different. 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 final moment, and sometimes the plan was unclear the next location the next day the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was the producer popping open some champagne during filming, to start a party.” The result was great, but goodness, it’s a really different approach to film-making.

A Secret Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think if I hadn’t pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field something to do with numbers, like math or finance.

The Best Piece of Advice Given

What is the greatest piece of advice you have ever received?

When I was in high school, a speaker came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains far more from setbacks than is gained from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.