🔗 Share this article

In a candid interview, the acclaimed performer delves on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become 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?

Straight away, that particular fish found at a specific shoreline – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there specifically to spot it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Staple to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. When I was growing up, it would air on the ABC every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of an acquaintance, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a great piece of humor and all the actors in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But the original film is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing often.

A Priceless Lesson Gained Through a Fellow Actor

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 back then we were not together. We were playing opposite each other and during the premiere I tripped up – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think what I learned in that moment was, first, always trust the individuals in your scene. When you lose where you are, by looking and look at the people you’re with, you will find where you’re meant to be somehow. It is a profoundly communal thing, performing live. And next, just to have a lighthearted attitude about it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re really present then. It can be a gift when things go completely awry.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most memorable interaction with a fan?

There isn't just one specific meeting 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 growing up … things that had happened in their lives and how much Eowyn signified for them and was a form of support 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 that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into such a joke, the whole thing involving that dish, and everyone wants to know what was in the stew, and how was it made, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, I think, fascinated by the humour of that situation. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that constituted the concoction – because I remember the efforts made; like they even put bits of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. They went to great detail to make it look as unappetizing as they could.

An Awkward Star Meeting

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

I was at a pilates class and there was a woman lying down doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made some joke about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and often when I meet another Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really identified her. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for words. I still had to complete my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I consider her talent is immense and I was simply too awestruck 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 christened for a district in Sydney. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and she thought sounded like a pleasant choice.

Chaos 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 least organized set of my career, and yet the film turned out incredibly well. But the local crew operated in such a different way. Their concept of time there is really different. In Australia, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set punctually. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel way of working for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times the plan was unclear the next location or the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was a crew member popping open a bottle on set, because he’s making a party.” It turned out great, but wow, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Secret Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I memorise words a lot of the time, 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 Best Piece of Advice Given

What is the greatest piece of advice you have ever received?

When I was in high school, a speaker came to speak when we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains so much more from failure than you learn from success. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. With failure, the lessons are abundant.