Miranda Otto Reveals Insights on Her Career, Devoted Fans, and Unexpected Gifts.

In a candid conversation, Miranda Otto opens up on topics ranging from her latest role as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the profound lessons gleaned from theatrical mistakes 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; supposing you had the opportunity to be a fish for a day, which one would you choose and why?

Without hesitation, that particular fish residing near Clovelly beach – because it’s like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. I just think as remarkable that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Favorite to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. When I was growing up, it would air on television every now and again, and once I videotaped it. I just thought it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It is a masterful work of comedy and all the actors in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing often.

A Priceless Lesson Gained Through a Fellow Actor

What is the most valuable lesson you learned from someone you’ve worked with?

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but back then we were not together. We portrayed characters as scene partners and during the premiere I stumbled – I jumped ahead some dialogue in the script. I was unaware what I’d done 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 what I learned then was, first, always trust the individuals you’re working with. If you don’t know your place, by looking and look at the actors you’re with, you will find your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a sense of fun regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things can ignite in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re really present in that moment. It may become an unexpected boon when things go completely the wrong way.

Memorable Exchanges with Admirers

Can you describe your most memorable encounter with a fan?

It’s not just one specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous accounts about how that character impacted them when they were growing up … things that had happened 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 question is always about the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into such a joke, the entire episode about the stew, and everyone wants 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 comedy of that situation. And I provide great detail listing the components that constituted the stew – as I recall the efforts made; like they even put bits of colored thread to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. They went to great detail to render it as bad as they could.

An Awkward Star Meeting

What’s been your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a pilates class and another participant lying down doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “oh, are you a journalist?” Because it’s an unusual name and often when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly identified her. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know 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 simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Moniker

Articles have confidently claimed that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Yes – I was named after a district in Sydney. Mum heard on the radio that they were opening a shopping centre at that location, and she thought seemed a pleasant choice.

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 least organized set of my career, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is really different. Typically, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel way of working for me. The elements were all coming together at the final moment, and at times the plan was unclear where they were shooting the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in during a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that just interrupted the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member opening a bottle during filming, to start a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have entered a field involving numbers, like math or accounting.

The Best Piece of Advice Given

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

When I was in secondary school, a speaker addressed us as we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from setbacks than you learn from triumph. With success, one rarely comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, the lessons are so much more.