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Through a thoughtful conversation, the acclaimed performer reflects on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

Given the Chance to Become a Sea Creature for a Day

Your latest role is the monarch 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, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – since it is a local landmark, and people go there to see it. It strikes me as remarkable that there’s a local fish that people actually seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Staple to Revisit

What film do you always return to, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. During my childhood, it would air on television every now and again, and once I recorded it. I found it was so funny. It’s Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at the Ritz and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled and laughed. It is a great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not successful. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing regularly.

The Best Lesson Gained Through a Fellow Actor

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone you’ve worked with?

I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I stumbled – I jumped ahead some dialogue in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I abruptly sensed things were off. I recall glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained then was, firstly, always trust the individuals you’re working with. When you lose your place, if you turn around and look at the actors sharing the stage with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be in some way. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And next, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great direction if you’re really present then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely awry.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

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

It’s not a single particular interaction but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous accounts about what Eowyn 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 a form of support to them during those periods.

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

The most specific question is invariably regarding that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and how was it made, and do you think she’s a better cook now, or do you think she really is a poor chef? People are, I think, fascinated by the humour of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions describing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of red cotton to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as bad as possible.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Meeting

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

I was at a pilates class and another participant on a mat exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark about, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an unusual name and often when I meet another Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for what to say. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, 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 repeatedly stated 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 clarify this definitively?

Indeed, I was named after a district in Sydney. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and she thought seemed 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 I experienced the least organized set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. Their concept of time there is unique. Typically, you receive a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was rather open ended – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the very last minute, and at times the plan was unclear the next location or the methodology. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s the producer popping open some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but goodness, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I memorise words a lot of the time, I simply have that kind of a brain. So I believe had I not ended up in acting, I probably would have entered a field something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone addressed us as we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from setbacks than is gained from triumph. With success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. With failure, you learn abundant.