Miranda Otto Reveals Perspectives on Acting, Fandom, and Life's Lessons.

In a candid interview, Miranda Otto delves on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from theatrical mistakes and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

The most recent character portrays 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?

Straight away, the blue groper residing near a specific shoreline – since it is like an institution, and individuals visit to see it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Favorite to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. During my growing up, it would air on the ABC occasionally, and one time I recorded it. I just thought it was so funny. It stars 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 a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such great piece of humor and all the actors in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, to be watched often.

The Best Lesson Learned From a Fellow Actor

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

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing opposite each other and on opening night I tripped up – I jumped ahead some dialogue in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I abruptly sensed things were off. I remember looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance regained momentum and proceeded splendidly. But I think what I learned in that moment was, firstly, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, if you turn around and toward the actors you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be in some way. It’s such collaborative endeavor, performing live. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Sometimes when a mistake occurs, things can ignite in a wonderfully positive direction provided you are really present in that moment. It can be an unexpected boon when things go completely the wrong way.

Memorable Exchanges with Fans

Can you describe your most touching encounter with a fan?

There isn't just one particular interaction but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of accounts about how that character impacted them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and how much that character meant to 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 always about the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode about the stew, and everyone wants to know the contents of the stew, and how was it made, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, I think, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I go into great detail listing the components that constituted the stew – because I remember the efforts made; like they even put bits of red cotton to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed great detail to make it look as unappetizing as they could.

A Cringeworthy Star Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a pilates class and there was a woman lying down exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I attempted 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 hadn't properly seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know what to say. I still had to complete my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I consider her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

Articles have repeatedly stated that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Indeed, I was christened for a district in Sydney. My mother heard on the radio 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?

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the least organized set of my career, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is unique. Typically, you receive a call sheet and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a really different way of working for me. The elements were all coming together at the very last minute, 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 just interrupted the scene? Oh, it’s the producer popping open a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” It turned out great, but goodness, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I think if I hadn’t ended up in acting, I likely might have worked in something to do with numbers, like math or finance.

The Finest Piece of Advice Given

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

When I was in high school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains far more from setbacks than you learn from triumph. With success, one rarely understand exactly how it happened. Failure, you learn abundant.