🔗 Share this article

During a revealing interview, the acclaimed performer opens up on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

Your latest 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 it be and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper residing near a specific shoreline – since it is like an institution, and people go there specifically to spot it. It strikes me it’s cool that there’s a local fish that people actually seek out and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Film Staple to Revisit

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. When I was growing up, it would air on television every now and again, and one time I recorded it. I found it was so funny. It’s Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a masterful work of humor and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing often.

The Best Insight 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 – now my spouse, but back then we were not together. We portrayed characters as scene partners and on opening night I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware of my error but I abruptly sensed things were off. I recall glancing toward him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then our performance regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained then was, firstly, consistently rely on the people in your scene. When you lose where you are, if you turn around and look at the people you’re with, you will find your correct position somehow. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, performing live. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re really present then. It may become a gift when things go completely awry.

Memorable Exchanges with Fans

What’s been your most memorable interaction with a fan?

It’s not just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I hear a lot of accounts about what Eowyn impacted them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and how much Eowyn signified for them and was a form of support to them during those periods.

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

The most detailed question is always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into such a joke, the entire episode involving that dish, and all fans wish to know what was in the pot, and how was it made, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you believe she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the comedy of that situation. And I go into lengthy descriptions describing the ingredients that made up the concoction – because I remember what they did; like they even adding pieces of red cotton to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.

A Cringeworthy Star Meeting

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

I attended a fitness session and another participant lying down exercising, and the instructor said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made some joke inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker and often when I meet another Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. At that point, I was at a loss for what to say. I was obliged to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I do know your work!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck 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 you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. My mother heard on the radio that they were opening a mall at that location, and she thought seemed a pleasant choice.

Chaos on Set

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

While working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film turned out brilliantly. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is unique. In Australia, you normally have a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was sort of open ended – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know where they were shooting the next day the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s the producer opening a bottle on set, to start a party.” The result was great, but goodness, it’s a distinct style of film-making.

A Hidden Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been good with numbers. I retain numbers easier than I memorise words often, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I think if I hadn’t pursued acting, I likely might have worked in involving numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

During my time in high school, a speaker addressed us as we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains far more from setbacks than you learn from triumph. Success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. With failure, the lessons are so much more.