The actress Reveals Insights on Her Career, Fandom, and Unexpected Gifts.

Through a thoughtful interview, the acclaimed performer reflects on subjects as varied as her latest role as Queen of the Cuttlefish 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 you choose and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – because it’s a local landmark, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Favorite to Return To

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. During my childhood, it used to come on the ABC occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a great piece of humor and all the actors in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.

The Best Lesson Learned From a Fellow Actor

What is the most valuable 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 portrayed characters as scene partners and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then our performance took off again and proceeded splendidly. But I think the insight gained in that moment was, firstly, consistently rely on the individuals in your scene. When you lose where you are, if you turn around and look at the people you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be somehow. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a sense of fun regarding it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great direction provided you are really present in that moment. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely awry.

Memorable Exchanges with Admirers

Can you describe your most touching encounter with a fan?

It’s not just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of stories about how that character impacted them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and the extent to which that character signified for them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Was the stew really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and everyone wants to know what was in the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the comedy of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions listing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall what they did; such as adding pieces of red cotton to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed great detail to make it look as unappetizing as they could.

An Awkward Star Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?

I attended a pilates class and there was a woman on a mat exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made some joke about, “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 wasn’t really identified her. 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 so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I do know who you are!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

It’s been repeatedly stated that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Indeed, I was christened for a district in Sydney. Mum learned via broadcast that they were opening a shopping centre at that location, and she thought seemed a nice name.

Chaos on Set

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

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon that was the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a really different approach for me. All aspects were being assembled at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location the next day how we were going to do it. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member opening some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a distinct style of film-making.

A Hidden Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I learn dialogue often, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think if I hadn’t pursued acting, I likely might 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, someone addressed us as we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, since one gains far more from failure than you learn from triumph. Success, you never really understand precisely why it happened. With failure, the lessons are abundant.