🔗 Share this article

In a candid conversation, the acclaimed performer reflects on topics ranging from her newest character as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the invaluable wisdom gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Fish for a Day

Your latest role is Queen of the Cuttlefish in The Pout-Pout Fish; if you could be a fish for a day, which one would it be and why?

Straight away, the blue groper found at a specific shoreline – because it’s like an institution, and individuals visit to see it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Staple to Return To

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. During my growing up, it used to come on the ABC occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a masterful work of comedy and the entire cast in it are superb. Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, to be watched often.

The Best Lesson Gained Through a Fellow Actor

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

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but back then we were not a couple. We portrayed characters as scene partners and on opening night I tripped up – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I was unaware of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. However, I believe the insight gained in that moment was, first, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. When you lose your place, if you turn around and toward the people sharing the stage with, you will find your correct position in some way. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, performing live. And next, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way if you’re really present in that moment. It can be a gift when things go absolutely awry.

Memorable Exchanges with Fans

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

There isn't a single specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of accounts about how that character meant to them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and the extent to which that character signified for them and was a form of support to them in those times.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become such a joke, the whole thing about the stew, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and how was it made, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? People are, I think, obsessed with the comedy of that situation. And I provide great detail listing the ingredients that made up the stew – because I remember what they did; like they even put bits of red cotton to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. They went to extreme measures to make it look as bad as possible.

An Awkward Star Meeting

What was your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat exercising, and the instructor said to me, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made some joke about, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and often when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know words. I still had to complete my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “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

It’s been repeatedly stated 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?

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and the name sounded like a nice name.

Pandemonium on Set

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

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product emerged incredibly well. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. 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 the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member opening a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but goodness, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Secret Skill

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I memorise words often, I’ve just got a numerically-oriented mind. So I believe had I not pursued acting, I probably would have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Finest Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

When I was in high school, someone addressed us when we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, since one gains so much more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.