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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 profound lessons learned through onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent 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?

Straight away, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – since it is like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Favorite to Return To

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. When I was growing up, it used to come on television occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars the legendary Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we attended and simply chuckled and laughed. It is a great piece of humor and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it 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 is the most valuable lesson you took away from someone you’ve worked with?

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I abruptly sensed things were off. I recall looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. However, I believe the insight gained then was, firstly, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, 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 is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, acting on stage. And next, just to have a sense of fun regarding it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way if you’re really present then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

Can you describe your most memorable encounter with a fan?

It’s not just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous accounts about what Eowyn impacted them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and how much that character meant to them and was a form of support to them during those periods.

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

The most specific inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? People are, I think, fascinated by the humour of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of colored thread to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as bad as possible.

An Awkward Star Meeting

What was your most embarrassing run-in with a famous person?

I attended a fitness session and there was a woman lying down doing pilates, and the instructor said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and most of the time when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of your work!” I think her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Moniker

It’s been repeatedly stated that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. Mum heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and the name sounded like a pleasant choice.

Pandemonium on Set

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

While working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the film emerged brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is unique. Typically, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a really different approach for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location or how we were going to do it. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s the producer opening some champagne during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a really different approach to film-making.

A Secret Skill

What are you secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I memorise words often, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not pursued acting, I probably would have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, because you learn far more from failure than is gained from success. With success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.