🔗 Share this article

During a revealing conversation, the acclaimed performer opens up on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and fan interactions.

Given the Chance to Become a Sea Creature for a Day

Your latest role is the monarch of the cuttlefish in The Pout-Pout Fish; supposing you had the opportunity to be a fish for a day, which one would it be and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – because it’s a local landmark, and individuals visit to see 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 Cinematic Staple to Revisit

What film do you always return to, and why?

The 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 stars Carole Lombard and comedian Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It’s such great piece of humor and all the actors in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But the original film is an exceptional farce, to be watched regularly.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Co-Star

What is the most valuable lesson you took away from someone you’ve worked with?

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House with Pete – now my spouse, but at the time we were not together. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I stumbled – I skipped forward a few lines 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 regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think the insight gained 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 people sharing the stage with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, performing live. And secondly, to maintain a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, 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 absolutely awry.

Memorable Exchanges with Admirers

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

It’s not a single specific meeting but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous accounts about what Eowyn meant to them when they were younger … 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.

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

The most specific question is always about that infamous meal that Eowyn serves Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the whole thing about the stew, and all fans wish to know the contents of the pot, and its preparation method, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, fascinated by the comedy of that situation. And I go into lengthy descriptions listing the components that constituted the stew – because I remember the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of red cotton to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.

An Awkward Star Encounter

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

I was at a fitness session and another participant on a mat doing pilates, and the instructor said to me, “Oh, 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 hadn't properly seeing who it was. And when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. At that point, I didn’t know words. I was obliged to complete my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I am aware of who you are!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Moniker

It’s been confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you clarify this once and for all?

Yes – I was christened for the Sydney suburb. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and she thought seemed a pleasant choice.

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 that was the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the film emerged brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is unique. Typically, you normally have a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – you come on set at one's convenience. It was a novel approach for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or the methodology. And then I would be in the middle of a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was a crew member opening some champagne on set, to start a party.” The result was great, but wow, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Secret Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers easier than I learn dialogue 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 math or finance.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone addressed us as we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn far more from failure than you learn from success. With success, one rarely understand exactly how it happened. With failure, you learn so much more.