🔗 Share this article

Through a thoughtful interview, the acclaimed performer reflects on subjects as varied as her newest character as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Sea Creature 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, that particular fish residing near Clovelly beach – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there specifically to spot it. It strikes me it’s cool that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Film Staple to Return To

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. When I was growing up, it used to come on television every now and again, and one time I recorded it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were playing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we attended and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a great piece of comedy 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 regularly.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Fellow Actor

What’s the best lesson you took away 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 together. We were playing as scene partners and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall glancing toward him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then our performance took off again and proceeded splendidly. However, I believe the insight gained then was, first, always trust the people you’re working with. If you don’t know your place, if you turn around and toward the people you’re with, you will find your correct position somehow. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, 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 an unexpected boon when things go completely awry.

Heartening Exchanges with Admirers

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

There isn't just one specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, 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 the extent to which Eowyn meant to them and was some kind of help to them in those times.

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

The most detailed question is invariably regarding that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It has evolved into such a joke, the entire episode about the stew, and all fans wish to know the contents of the pot, and how was it made, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? People are, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that made up the concoction – because I remember what they did; like they even adding pieces of red cotton to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed great detail to render it as unappetizing as they could.

A Cringeworthy Star Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an unusual name and often when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really identified her. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. At that point, I didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I am aware of your work!” I think her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Origin 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 I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Yes – I was named after a district in Sydney. My mother heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at that location, and the name sounded like a pleasant choice.

Chaos on Set

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

When I was working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon that was the least organized set of my career, and yet the film emerged incredibly well. But the local crew operated in such a different way. Their concept of time there is really different. Typically, 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. All aspects were all coming together at the very last minute, and sometimes 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 be like, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s a crew member opening some champagne during filming, to start a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Secret Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with 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 had I not pursued acting, I probably would have worked in something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.

The Finest Guidance Ever Received

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

When I was in secondary school, a speaker came to speak when we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, since one gains far more from setbacks than you learn from success. With success, you never really understand exactly how it happened. With failure, you learn so much more.