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Through a thoughtful interview, Miranda Otto opens up on subjects as varied as her newest character as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the invaluable wisdom gleaned from onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature 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 it be and why?

Without hesitation, that particular fish residing near a specific shoreline – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Favorite to Return To

Which movie do you always return to, 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 occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I just thought it was so funny. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was also the favourite film of an acquaintance, and so we went and just laughed repeatedly. It’s such great piece of comedy and the entire cast in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

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

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I stumbled – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I abruptly sensed 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. However, I believe the insight gained in that moment was, firstly, always trust the people you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, if you turn around and toward the people sharing the stage with, you will find your correct position somehow. It is a profoundly communal thing, performing live. And next, just to have a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re fully engaged in that moment. It can be an unexpected boon when things go completely the wrong way.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

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

There isn't a single specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I hear a lot of accounts about what Eowyn impacted them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and the extent to which that character meant to them and was a form of support to them during those periods.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode about the stew, and everyone wants to know what was in the pot, and how was it made, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the components that constituted the concoction – as I recall what they did; such as adding pieces of colored thread to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to make it look as unappetizing as they could.

An Awkward Star Meeting

What was your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I attended a fitness session and another participant lying down doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made some joke inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and often when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really identified her. And when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know what to say. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Moniker

Articles have confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you clarify this once and for all?

Yes – I was christened for a district in Sydney. My mother heard on the radio that they were opening a mall at Miranda, and she thought sounded like a nice name.

Pandemonium on Location

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

While working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the least organized set of my career, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in such a different way. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was sort of open ended – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a novel way of working for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and be like, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was the producer opening some champagne on set, to start a party.” It turned out excellent, but wow, 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 a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe if I hadn’t ended up in acting, I probably would have worked in something to do with numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, a speaker addressed us as we were graduating and stated, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn so much more from setbacks than you learn from success. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.