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In a candid conversation, the acclaimed performer opens up on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent character portrays 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?

Straight away, that particular fish residing near a specific shoreline – because it’s like an institution, and people go there specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Staple to Revisit

Which movie 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 once I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at the Ritz 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 great piece of humor and all the actors in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, to be watched often.

The Best Lesson Gained Through a Fellow Actor

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone a colleague?

I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but back then we were not a couple. We were playing opposite each other and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I abruptly sensed things were off. I remember glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. However, I believe what I learned then was, firstly, always trust the people in your scene. When you lose your place, if you turn around and look at the people you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, acting on stage. And next, just to have a lighthearted attitude about it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great direction provided you are fully engaged then. It may become a gift when things go completely the wrong way.

Memorable Exchanges with Fans

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

It’s not a single specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous stories about how that character impacted them when they were growing up … 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.

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

The most detailed question is invariably regarding that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It’s become such a joke, the entire episode about the stew, and all fans wish to know what was in the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? People are, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I go into great detail listing the ingredients that constituted the concoction – as I recall the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of colored thread to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to make it look as bad as possible.

An Awkward Celebrity Encounter

What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the instructor remarked, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted a lighthearted remark inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really identified her. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for what to say. I was obliged to complete my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I do know your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was simply too awestruck to say anything.

The Source of a Name

It’s been confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned stating otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Yes – I was named after a district in Sydney. Mum learned via broadcast that they were opening a shopping centre at that location, and she thought sounded like 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 most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a call sheet and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was rather flexible – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a really different approach for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or how we were going to do it. And then I would be in during a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member opening some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was great, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Secret Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, a speaker addressed us as we were graduating and stated, “don’t be afraid to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, since one gains far more from failure than you learn from triumph. Success, one rarely understand exactly how it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.