🔗 Share this article

During a revealing conversation, Miranda Otto delves on topics ranging from her newest character as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through theatrical mistakes and fan interactions.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest role is Queen of the Cuttlefish in The Pout-Pout Fish; if you could be a fish for a day, which one would it be and why?

Without hesitation, that particular fish found at a specific shoreline – because it’s a local landmark, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. It strikes me it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Favorite to Revisit

Which movie 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 every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled and laughed. It is a great piece of comedy and all the actors in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not successful. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, to be watched regularly.

The Best Lesson Gained Through a Fellow Actor

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

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House with Pete – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We portrayed characters 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 expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. However, I believe what I learned then was, first, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, by looking and look at the people you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position somehow. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And next, just to have a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way if you’re really present in that moment. It can be a gift when things go completely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most memorable encounter with a fan?

It’s not a single specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, 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 that character signified for them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

Which questions 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 really that bad?” It has evolved into a running gag, the entire episode about the stew, 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 think she really is a bad cook? People are, in my view, obsessed with the comedy of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the components that constituted the stew – 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 bad as they could.

An Awkward Celebrity Encounter

What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I was at a pilates class and there was a woman lying down exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted a lighthearted remark inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker and often when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for what to say. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was simply too awestruck to say anything.

The Source of a Moniker

It’s been 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 definitively?

Yes – I was christened for the Sydney suburb. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and the name sounded like a nice name.

Pandemonium on Location

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 most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film turned out incredibly well. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is really different. Typically, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set punctually. But this was sort of flexible – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a really different way of working for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and sometimes the plan was unclear the next location the next day the methodology. And then you’d be in the middle of a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s the producer popping open some champagne during filming, to start a party.” The result was great, but wow, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Secret Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I believe if I hadn’t pursued acting, I probably would have worked in something to do with numbers, like math or finance.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

When I was in high school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, since one gains far more from failure than is gained from triumph. With success, one rarely understand exactly how it happened. Failure, you learn abundant.