The actress Reveals Insights on Acting, Devoted Fans, and Unexpected Lessons.

Through a thoughtful interview, Miranda Otto opens up on subjects as varied as her latest role as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the profound lessons gleaned from theatrical mistakes and fan interactions.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

The most recent role is the monarch of the cuttlefish in The Pout-Pout Fish; if you could be a fish for a day, which one would it be and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper residing near Clovelly beach – since it is like an institution, and people go there specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Favorite to Revisit

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. During my childhood, it would air on television occasionally, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It stars the legendary Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at the Ritz and I discovered that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not successful. But Lubitsch's version is an exceptional farce, worth viewing often.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

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

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – my husband now, but at the time we were not a couple. We portrayed characters 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 something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance took off again and went really, really well. However, I believe what I learned in that moment was, first, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. When you lose your place, by looking and look at the people sharing the stage with, you will find your correct position somehow. It is a profoundly communal thing, acting on stage. And next, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Sometimes when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a really great way provided you are fully engaged then. It can be a gift when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most memorable encounter with a fan?

There isn't just one specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous 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 meant to them and was some kind of help to them in those times.

What do you get asked about the most by Lord of the Rings fans?

The most detailed inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and how was it made, and in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the comedy of that situation. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall the efforts made; such as adding pieces of red cotton to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to render it as unappetizing as possible.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a pilates class and there was a woman lying down doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made some joke inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and often 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 didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I do know your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

It’s been confidently claimed that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Indeed, I was named after the Sydney suburb. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and the name sounded like a nice name.

Pandemonium on Location

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

When I was working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product emerged brilliantly. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is unique. In Australia, you receive a call sheet and you have to be on set punctually. But this was sort of open ended – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel way of working for me. The elements were all coming together at the very last minute, 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 caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was the producer opening some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but goodness, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Secret Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I memorise words a lot of the time, I’ve just got 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 finance.

The Finest Piece of Advice Given

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

When I was in secondary school, a speaker 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 failure than you learn from success. Success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. With failure, the lessons are abundant.