🔗 Share this article

During a revealing interview, Miranda Otto reflects on subjects as varied as her newest character as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent 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?

Straight away, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there to see it. It strikes me it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Staple to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. When I was childhood, it used to come on the ABC every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we went and just laughed repeatedly. It is a masterful work of comedy and all the actors in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, to be watched often.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone you’ve worked with?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing opposite each other and during the premiere I stumbled – I jumped ahead some dialogue in the script. I was unaware of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene took off again and went really, really well. But I think what I learned then was, first, consistently rely on the people in your scene. When you lose your place, by looking and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be somehow. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And next, to maintain a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things can ignite in a really great direction provided you are fully engaged in that moment. It may become a gift when things go completely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most memorable encounter with a fan?

There isn't just one particular interaction but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous stories about what Eowyn meant to them when they were younger … things that had happened in their lives and how much that character signified for them and was a form of support to them during those periods.

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

The most specific inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into such a joke, the whole thing about the stew, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you think she really is a poor chef? People are, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that situation. And I go into lengthy descriptions listing the ingredients that made up the concoction – as I recall what they did; such as adding pieces of red cotton to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to make it look as unappetizing as they could.

An Awkward Star Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a pilates class and another participant on a mat exercising, and the instructor remarked, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time when I meet another 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 didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I do know your work!” I consider her talent is immense 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 you've mentioned stating otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Indeed, I was christened for the Sydney suburb. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and the name seemed a nice name.

Pandemonium 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 most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is unique. Typically, you normally have a call sheet and you have to be on set by a certain time. 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 very last minute, and sometimes the plan was unclear the next location or the methodology. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was the producer opening a bottle on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but goodness, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Secret Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers easier than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I think had I not pursued acting, I likely might have worked in something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

When I was in secondary school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “don’t be afraid to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from setbacks than is gained from success. With success, you never really comprehends exactly how it happened. With failure, the lessons are abundant.