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Through a thoughtful conversation, Miranda Otto reflects on topics ranging from her newest character as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

If You Could Be a Fish 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 found at a specific shoreline – since it is like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely seek out and discuss – it’s a special fish.

A Film Staple to Revisit

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. During my growing up, it would air on the ABC occasionally, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we went and just laughed repeatedly. It is a great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.

The Best Lesson Learned From a Fellow Actor

What’s the best lesson you learned 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 portrayed characters opposite each other and on opening night I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance took off again and went really, really well. But I think what I learned in that moment was, firstly, always trust the people in your scene. If you don’t know where you are, by looking and toward the people you’re with, you will find your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And secondly, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Sometimes when a mistake occurs, things can ignite in a really great direction if you’re fully engaged then. It can be a gift when things go absolutely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

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

It’s not a single specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous stories about what Eowyn impacted them when they were younger … 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.

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

The most specific inquiry concerns invariably regarding that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and everyone wants 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 bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the comedy of that situation. And I provide lengthy descriptions listing the ingredients that made up the stew – as I recall what they did; such as adding pieces of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to render it as unappetizing as possible.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Meeting

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

I attended a pilates class and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly identified her. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. At that point, I didn’t know what to say. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I do know your work!” I consider her talent is immense 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 settle the matter once and for all?

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

Pandemonium on Set

What was the 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 of my career, and yet the film emerged incredibly well. But they just work in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is unique. In Australia, you normally have a call sheet and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a really different way of working for me. The elements were being assembled at the very last minute, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location or 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 a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was great, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not 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’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

When I was in high school, a speaker addressed us when we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains so much more from setbacks than is gained from triumph. With success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. With failure, the lessons are so much more.