The actress Discusses Insights on Her Career, Devoted Fans, and Life's Lessons.

Through a thoughtful conversation, Miranda Otto opens up 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 Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent 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 you choose and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper residing near Clovelly beach – since it is like an institution, and people go there specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Staple to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. When I was childhood, it would air on the ABC occasionally, and once I recorded it. I just thought it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we went and simply chuckled and laughed. It is a masterful work of humor and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But the original film is an exceptional farce, to be watched often.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

What’s the best lesson you took away from someone you’ve worked with?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – 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 didn’t know of my error but I abruptly sensed things were off. I remember looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene took off again and went really, really well. However, I believe the insight gained then was, first, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. If you don’t know your place, if you turn around and look at the people you’re with, you will find where you’re meant to be somehow. It is a profoundly communal thing, performing live. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude about it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction provided you are really present then. It can be a gift when things go absolutely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Admirers

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

It’s not 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 growing up … things that had happened in their lives and the extent to which Eowyn signified for them and was some kind of help to them in those times.

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

The most specific inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and its preparation method, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, fascinated by the comedy of that situation. And I provide great detail listing the components that made up the stew – because I remember 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 make it look as bad as they could.

An Awkward Celebrity Meeting

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

I attended a fitness session and another participant lying down doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made some joke about, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and often when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I do know who you are!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Origin 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?

Indeed, I was christened for a district in Sydney. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and the name seemed a pleasant choice.

Chaos on Set

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

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is really different. Typically, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was rather flexible – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a really different way of working for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times the plan was unclear where they were shooting the next day the methodology. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was the producer popping open some champagne during filming, because he’s making a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, 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 retain numbers easier than I memorise words often, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I think had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have worked in involving numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone came to speak when we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains far more from failure than you learn from success. Success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. With failure, the lessons are abundant.