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Through a thoughtful interview, the acclaimed performer reflects on topics ranging from 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 Sea Creature 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 it be and why?

Straight away, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – because it’s a local landmark, and individuals visit to see it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Film Staple to Return To

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. During my growing up, it would air on television every now and again, and one time I recorded it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were playing 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 masterful work of humor and all the actors in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing often.

A Priceless Insight Gained Through a Fellow Actor

What is the most valuable lesson you learned from someone a colleague?

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but at the time we were not a couple. We portrayed characters opposite each other and during the premiere I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall glancing toward 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 you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, if you turn around and toward the actors sharing the stage with, you can rediscover your correct position somehow. It’s such collaborative endeavor, performing live. And secondly, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great way if you’re really present then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go completely awry.

Memorable Exchanges with Admirers

What’s been your most memorable 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 hear a lot of stories about how that character meant to them when they were younger … things that had happened in their lives and how much Eowyn meant to them and was a form of support to them in those times.

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

The most specific question is always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode about the stew, and all fans wish to know what was in the stew, and how was it made, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? People are, I think, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I go into lengthy descriptions describing the components that constituted the concoction – as I recall what they did; such as put bits of colored thread to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to make it look as unappetizing as possible.

A Cringeworthy Star Meeting

What’s been your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a fitness session and another participant lying down exercising, and the teacher remarked, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for words. I still had to complete 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 Origin of a Name

Articles have confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Indeed, I was christened for a district in Sydney. My mother heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and she thought seemed a pleasant choice.

Chaos on Location

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

While working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon that was the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was rather open ended – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. All aspects were all coming together 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 you’d be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was a crew member opening some champagne during filming, to start a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a distinct style of film-making.

A Secret Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been good with numbers. I retain numbers easier than I memorise words often, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I probably would have worked in something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Finest Guidance Ever Received

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

When I was in high school, someone came to speak when we were graduating and they said, “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 triumph. Success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. With failure, you learn so much more.