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In a candid interview, Miranda Otto reflects on topics ranging from her newest character as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

Given the Chance to Become a Sea Creature for a Day

Your latest character portrays 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 it be and why?

Without hesitation, that particular fish residing near a specific shoreline – because it’s like an institution, and people go there to see it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Film Staple to Revisit

Which movie do you always return to, 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 occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and comedian 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 attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such masterful work of humor and all the actors in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.

A Priceless Insight Learned From a Co-Star

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

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but back then we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I suddenly realised things were off. I remember glancing toward him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then our performance took off again and proceeded splendidly. However, I believe what I learned then was, firstly, consistently rely on the individuals you’re working with. When you lose where you are, if you turn around and look at the actors sharing the stage with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And secondly, just to have a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a really great direction if you’re fully engaged in that moment. It can be a gift when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Exchanges with Admirers

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

It’s not a single particular interaction but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous accounts about what Eowyn meant to them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and how much Eowyn signified for them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

Which questions get asked about the most by Lord of the Rings fans?

The most specific inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into such a joke, the entire episode about the stew, and all fans wish to know the contents of the pot, and how was it made, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you believe she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, fascinated by the comedy of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the components that made up the concoction – as I recall what they did; such as adding pieces of colored thread to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as unappetizing as possible.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Meeting

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

I attended a pilates class and there was a woman lying down doing pilates, and the teacher remarked, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly identified her. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. At that point, I didn’t know what to say. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of your work!” I consider her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Origin of a Name

It’s been confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned you saying otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Yes – I was christened for a district in Sydney. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and the name sounded like a nice name.

Pandemonium on Set

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

While working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon that was the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the film emerged brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is unique. In Australia, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was rather open ended – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a really different way of working for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting the next day 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? Ah, it was a crew member popping open a bottle during filming, to start a party.” It turned out great, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been good with numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have entered a field something to do with numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Finest Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn far more from failure than is gained from success. Success, one rarely understand exactly how it happened. Failure, the lessons are abundant.