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In a candid conversation, the acclaimed performer reflects on subjects as varied as her latest role as Queen of the Cuttlefish to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Sea Creature for a Day

Your latest 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, the blue groper found at a specific shoreline – since it is like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Staple to Revisit

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. During my growing up, it used to come on television occasionally, and one time I recorded it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of an acquaintance, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It is a masterful work of humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, to be watched often.

The Best Insight Gained Through a Fellow Actor

What is the most valuable lesson you took away from someone a colleague?

I was doing 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 tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall glancing toward him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene regained momentum and proceeded splendidly. But I think what I learned then was, first, always trust the individuals in your scene. When you lose your place, by looking and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be somehow. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And secondly, to maintain a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Sometimes when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a really great way provided you are fully engaged then. It may become a gift when things go completely the wrong way.

Memorable Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most touching interaction with a fan?

It’s not a single particular interaction but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I hear a lot of accounts about what Eowyn meant to them when they were growing up … things that had happened in their lives and the extent to which that character 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 specific question is invariably regarding the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste as terrible as it looked?” It has evolved into a running gag, the whole thing involving that dish, and all fans wish to know the contents of the stew, and its preparation method, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a poor chef? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions listing the components that made up the stew – as I recall the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of colored thread to make it look like bits of veins in the meat. The crew employed great detail to make it look as unappetizing as they could.

A Cringeworthy Celebrity Encounter

What was your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a fitness session and another participant on a mat doing pilates, and the instructor remarked, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and often when I meet another Miranda, they’re a journalist. I hadn't properly seeing who it was. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I was at a loss for words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I am aware of who you are!” I consider her talent is immense and I was simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

Articles have repeatedly stated that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you settle the matter once and for all?

Indeed, I was named after the Sydney suburb. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at that location, and she thought seemed a nice name.

Pandemonium on Set

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

While working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is unique. In Australia, you receive a schedule and you have to be 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 final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know where they were shooting the next day how we were going to do it. And then I would be in during a scene and wondering, “What caused that sound that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was a crew member opening a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was great, but wow, it’s a really different approach to film-making.

A Hidden Talent

Do you have a secretly good at?

I’ve always been 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 believe had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have worked in involving numbers, like math 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 as we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn so much more from failure than you learn from success. Success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. With failure, you learn abundant.