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Through a thoughtful interview, the acclaimed performer delves on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

Given the Chance to Become a Fish for a Day

The most recent role is 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 you choose and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – since it is a local landmark, and individuals visit to see it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually go and see and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Film Favorite to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. During my childhood, it used to come on television occasionally, and one time I recorded it. I just thought it was so funny. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of an acquaintance, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such masterful work of humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, to be watched often.

A Priceless Lesson Learned From a Fellow Actor

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone a colleague?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and on opening night I stumbled – I jumped ahead some dialogue in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I abruptly sensed things were off. I recall glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think what I learned in that moment was, firstly, consistently rely on the individuals you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, if you turn around and look at the people you’re with, you will find your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction provided you are fully engaged in that moment. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

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 stories about what Eowyn impacted them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and the extent to which that character signified for them and was a form of support to them in those times.

Which questions get asked most frequently by Lord of the Rings fans?

The most specific question is invariably regarding that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into 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 in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a poor chef? People are, I think, fascinated by the humour of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions listing the ingredients that made up the stew – as I recall the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of colored thread to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to make it look as bad 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 another participant lying down doing pilates, and the instructor said to me, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker and often when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know what to say. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wished to explain: “Oh my gosh, I do know your work!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

It’s been confidently claimed that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Indeed, I was named after a district in Sydney. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and the name seemed a nice name.

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 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 such a different way. Their concept of time there is really different. Typically, you normally have a schedule and must arrive on set punctually. But this was sort of flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a novel way of working for me. The elements were all coming together at the very last minute, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in the middle of a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member popping open a bottle on set, to start a party.” It turned out great, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Secret Skill

What are you secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I probably would have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Finest Guidance Given

What’s the best 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, since one gains far more from failure than you learn from success. Success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. Failure, the lessons are so much more.