🔗 Share this article

Through a thoughtful interview, Miranda Otto opens up 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 Fish for a Day

The most recent 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 found at a specific shoreline – since it is a local landmark, and individuals visit to see it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Film 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 picture. During my growing up, it would air on television occasionally, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not successful. But the original film is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing often.

The Best Lesson Learned From a Co-Star

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

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but back then we were not together. We were playing as scene partners and on opening night I tripped up – I skipped forward a few lines 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 the scene took off again and went really, really well. However, I believe what I learned in that moment was, firstly, always trust the individuals in your scene. If you don’t know your place, by looking and toward the actors sharing the stage with, you will find your correct position somehow. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And next, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things can ignite in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re fully engaged then. It may become an unexpected boon when things go completely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

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

It’s not just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous accounts about how that character meant to them when they were younger … things that had happened in their lives and the extent to which that character meant to them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

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

The most specific inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the whole thing about the stew, and all fans wish to know what was in the stew, and its preparation method, and in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that situation. And I provide great detail describing the components that constituted the stew – because I remember what they did; such as put bits of colored thread to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to make it look as unappetizing as possible.

An Awkward Celebrity Meeting

What’s been your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?

I was at a pilates class and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Because it’s an unusual name and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for what to say. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I do know your work!” I think her talent is immense and I was simply too awestruck to say anything.

The Origin 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 you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and she thought sounded like 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 least organized set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film turned out incredibly well. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a call sheet and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or the methodology. 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 popping open a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, it’s a really different approach to film-making.

A Secret Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been good with numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe had I not pursued acting, I probably would have worked in involving numbers, like math or finance.

The Best Piece of Advice Given

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

During my time in secondary school, a speaker 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 so much more from setbacks than is gained from success. Success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.