The actress Reveals Insights on Acting, Devoted Fans, and Unexpected Gifts.

In a candid interview, Miranda Otto reflects on subjects as varied as her newest character as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest character portrays 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?

Straight away, that particular fish residing near Clovelly beach – because it’s like an institution, and individuals visit to see it. I just think as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Staple to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. During my childhood, it would air on television every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars the legendary Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at the Ritz and I discovered 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 humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, to be watched regularly.

A Priceless Insight Learned From a Co-Star

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

I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but back then we were not a couple. We portrayed characters opposite each other and on opening night I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised things were off. I remember glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene took off again and went really, really well. However, I believe what I learned then was, first, always trust the individuals in your scene. If you don’t know your place, if you turn around and look at the people sharing the stage with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be in some way. It’s such collaborative endeavor, acting on stage. And next, just to have a sense of fun regarding it. Sometimes when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re really present then. It may become a gift when things go completely awry.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

What’s been your most touching encounter with a fan?

There isn't a single particular interaction but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I hear a lot of accounts about how that character meant to them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and the extent to which Eowyn meant to them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

What do you get asked most frequently by Lord of the Rings fans?

The most specific inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become such a joke, the whole thing involving that dish, and all fans wish to know what was in the stew, 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 humour of that situation. And I go into lengthy descriptions describing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall what they did; like they even adding pieces of colored thread to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.

A Cringeworthy Star Meeting

What was your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted some joke inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and often when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly identified her. And when she got up, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know words. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I felt so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of who you are!” I think her talent is immense 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 you saying otherwise – can you clarify this once and for all?

Yes – I was christened for a district in Sydney. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and she thought seemed a nice name.

Pandemonium on Set

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

While working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon I experienced the least organized set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film emerged brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is unique. In Australia, you normally have 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 really different way of working for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in during a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was the producer popping open some champagne during filming, to start a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Hidden Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been good with numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words a lot of the time, I simply have that kind of a brain. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I probably would have entered a field something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone addressed us when we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from setbacks than is gained from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. With failure, you learn so much more.