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During a revealing conversation, Miranda Otto reflects on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons learned through theatrical mistakes and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent character portrays the monarch of the cuttlefish in The Pout-Pout Fish; if you could be a fish for a day, which one would you choose and why?

Straight away, the blue groper found at a specific shoreline – because it’s a local landmark, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. I just think as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually go and see and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Film Favorite to Return To

What film do you always return to, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. During my growing up, it used to come on television occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It’s Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled and laughed. It is a masterful work of humor and all the actors in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, to be watched regularly.

A Priceless Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

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

I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but back then we were not together. We were playing opposite each other and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall 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 in that moment was, firstly, consistently rely on the people in your scene. If you don’t know where you are, if you turn around and toward the people you’re with, you will find your correct position somehow. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And secondly, to maintain a sense of fun regarding it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great direction if you’re fully engaged then. It may become a gift when things go completely awry.

Memorable Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most touching 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 stories about what Eowyn meant to them when they were growing up … events that occurred in their lives and how much Eowyn signified for them and was a form of support to them in those times.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and all fans wish to know the contents of the pot, and how was it made, and do you think she’s a better cook now, or do you think she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the comedy of that scene. And I provide great detail listing the ingredients that made up the concoction – because I remember the efforts made; like they even put bits of colored thread to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to render it as unappetizing as possible.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Encounter

What was 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, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and often when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of your work!” I consider 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 given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Yes – I was christened for a district in Sydney. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and she thought seemed a pleasant choice.

Pandemonium on Location

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

When I was working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon that was the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the film turned out incredibly well. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is unique. Typically, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set punctually. But this was sort of open ended – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. All aspects 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 wondering, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was a crew member opening a bottle during filming, to start a party.” It turned out excellent, but wow, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Hidden Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I believe had I not pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Finest Piece of Advice Given

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

During my time in secondary school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, because you learn far more from failure than you learn from success. With success, one rarely understand exactly how it happened. Failure, you learn abundant.