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In a candid interview, the acclaimed performer opens up on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent role is Queen 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 Clovelly beach – since it is like an institution, and people go there specifically to spot it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Film Staple to Revisit

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. During my childhood, it would air on the ABC occasionally, and once I recorded it. I just thought it was so funny. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at the Ritz and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It’s such great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing regularly.

A Priceless Insight Learned From a Fellow Actor

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

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I tripped up – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I suddenly realised things were off. I recall glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance took off again and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained in that moment was, first, always trust the people you’re working with. If you don’t know your place, if you turn around and look at the actors sharing the stage with, you will find where you’re meant to be in some way. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And next, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way provided you are fully engaged then. It may become a gift when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Interactions with Admirers

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

It’s not a single particular interaction but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous 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 some kind of help to them in those times.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew really that bad?” It’s become such a joke, the entire episode about the stew, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and how was it made, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? People are, I think, fascinated by the comedy of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions describing the components that constituted the stew – because I remember what they did; such as put bits of red cotton to make it look like blood vessels 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 was at a pilates class and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an unusual name and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for what to say. I still had to complete my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of who you are!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Origin of a Name

Articles have 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 once and for all?

Yes – I was named after a district in Sydney. Mum heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and she thought seemed a nice name.

Chaos 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 most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is unique. Typically, you normally have a call sheet and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather open ended – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location or how we were going to do it. And then I would be in during a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was a crew member opening a bottle during filming, to start a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a distinct style of film-making.

A Secret Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I retain numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field something to do with numbers, like math or finance.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

What’s the best 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, because you learn so much more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. With failure, the lessons are so much more.