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Through a thoughtful conversation, Miranda Otto reflects on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through theatrical mistakes and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest character portrays 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 found at a specific shoreline – because it’s like an institution, and individuals visit to see it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Staple to Return To

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. When I was childhood, it used to come 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 I discovered that it was also the favourite film of an acquaintance, and so we went and just laughed and laughed. It is a masterful work of comedy and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not successful. But the original film is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing regularly.

The Best Insight Learned From a Co-Star

What is the most valuable lesson you learned 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 together. We portrayed characters as scene partners and on opening night I tripped up – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance took off again and proceeded splendidly. 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 you’re with, you will find your correct position in some way. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way provided you are fully engaged then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go completely the wrong way.

Memorable Exchanges with Admirers

Can you describe your most touching interaction with a fan?

There isn't a single particular interaction but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous accounts about how that character meant to them when they were younger … things that had happened 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 about the most by Lord of the Rings fans?

The most detailed inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and all fans wish to know what was in the stew, and how was it made, and do you think she’s a better cook now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that situation. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that constituted the stew – because I remember what they did; like they even put bits of colored thread to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Meeting

What was your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?

I was at a pilates class and another participant on a mat doing pilates, and the instructor said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted some joke inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker 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 the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of who you are!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Source of a Name

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?

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at that location, and the name seemed a nice name.

Chaos on Location

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

While working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon that was the least organized set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film emerged brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is really different. Typically, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather open ended – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were all coming together at the final moment, and at times the plan was unclear where they were shooting or the methodology. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that just interrupted the scene? Oh, it’s the producer popping open a bottle on set, to start a party.” The result was excellent, but goodness, it’s a really different approach to 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 often, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have entered a field involving numbers, like math or accounting.

The Finest Guidance Ever Received

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

When I was in secondary school, a speaker came to speak when we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn far more from setbacks than you learn from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.