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During a revealing interview, the acclaimed performer opens up on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from theatrical mistakes and fan interactions.

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 you choose and why?

Without hesitation, that particular fish residing near Clovelly beach – since it is like an institution, and people go there to see it. I just think it’s cool that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely seek out and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Staple to Revisit

What film 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 childhood, it used to come on television occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It is a great piece of humor and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not successful. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, worth viewing often.

A Priceless Insight Learned From a Co-Star

What is the most valuable lesson you took away from someone a colleague?

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I suddenly realised things were off. I recall looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene took off again and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained then was, first, always trust the people in your scene. If you don’t know where you are, by looking and toward the people sharing the stage with, you will find your correct position somehow. It is a profoundly communal thing, performing live. And next, just to have a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Sometimes when a mistake occurs, things can ignite in a wonderfully positive way provided you are really present in that moment. It can be a gift when things go completely the wrong way.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

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

It’s not a single particular interaction but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of stories about how that character impacted them when they were younger … events that occurred 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 detailed question is invariably regarding the stew that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and its preparation method, and do you think 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 go into lengthy descriptions listing the components that constituted the stew – as I recall the efforts made; such as put bits of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to make it look as bad as they could.

An Awkward Star Encounter

What was your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?

I attended a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat exercising, and the instructor said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted a lighthearted remark inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly identified her. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for what to say. I still had to complete my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I do know your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Source of a Moniker

It’s been 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 settle the matter once and for all?

Yes – I was christened for the Sydney suburb. My mother heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at Miranda, and she thought sounded like a nice name.

Chaos on Location

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

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the least organized set of my career, and yet the film turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in such a different way. The sense of time there is unique. Typically, you receive a schedule and must arrive on set punctually. But this was sort of flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a really different way of working for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know the next location or the methodology. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was a crew member popping open a bottle on set, to start a party.” It turned out great, but goodness, it’s a really different approach to film-making.

A Hidden Skill

What are you secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I memorise words often, I simply have that kind of a brain. So I think had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have worked in something to do with numbers, like math or accounting.

The Best Guidance 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 stated, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn far more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, one rarely comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.