🔗 Share this article

During a revealing conversation, the acclaimed performer opens up on subjects as varied as her newest character as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom gleaned from theatrical mistakes and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Sea Creature 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 it be and why?

Without hesitation, that particular fish found at a specific shoreline – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there to see it. I just think as remarkable that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it’s a special fish.

A Cinematic Staple to Return To

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. When I was growing up, it would air on television every now and again, and one time I recorded it. I found it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were playing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such great piece of comedy and the entire cast in it are superb. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing often.

The Best Lesson Learned From a Co-Star

What’s the best lesson you took away 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 opposite each other and on opening night I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware of my error but I abruptly sensed something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained then was, firstly, always trust the people in your scene. When you lose your place, if you turn around and toward the actors you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position somehow. It’s such collaborative endeavor, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction if you’re fully engaged then. It can be a gift when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Exchanges with Admirers

Can you describe your most memorable interaction with a fan?

There isn't a single specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous accounts about how that character impacted them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and how much that character signified for 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 inquiry concerns invariably regarding the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and everyone wants to know what was in the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you believe she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that situation. And I provide great detail listing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall what they did; like they even 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 unappetizing as they could.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Meeting

What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a pilates class and another participant lying down exercising, and the instructor said to me, “Hello Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made some joke about, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an unusual name and often when I meet another Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really 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 complete my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of who you are!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Origin of a Moniker

It’s been repeatedly stated that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Indeed, I was named after 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.

Pandemonium on Set

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

While working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon that was the most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was rather flexible – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were all coming together at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting the next day the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and be like, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member popping open some champagne on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a distinct style of film-making.

A Hidden 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 simply have that kind of a brain. So I think had I not pursued acting, I probably would have entered a field something to do with numbers, like math or accounting.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

When I was in secondary school, someone addressed us as we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from failure than is gained from success. Success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. With failure, the lessons are abundant.