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In a candid discussion, the acclaimed performer delves 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 Fish 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?

Without hesitation, the blue groper residing near a specific shoreline – since it is like an institution, and people go there specifically to spot it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually seek out and talk about – it’s a special fish.

A Film Staple to Return To

What film do you always return to, and why?

The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. During my growing up, it used to come on television occasionally, and one time I videotaped it. I just thought it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at a cinema and it turned out that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we went and just laughed repeatedly. It’s such great piece of comedy and the entire cast in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing often.

The Best Lesson Learned From a Fellow Actor

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

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but at the time we were not a couple. We were playing opposite each other and on opening night I stumbled – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I suddenly realised things were off. I recall looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance regained momentum and went really, really well. But I think what I learned in that moment was, firstly, consistently rely on the individuals you’re working with. When you lose where you are, by looking and toward the actors you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And next, to maintain a lighthearted attitude regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive direction provided you are fully engaged then. It may become a gift when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Exchanges with Admirers

What’s been your most memorable encounter 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 accounts about how that character meant to them when they were younger … 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 detailed question is always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Did that stew taste really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and everyone wants to know what was in the pot, and its preparation method, and do you think her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, I think, obsessed with the humour of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions describing the ingredients that made up the concoction – because I remember what they did; like they even put bits of red cotton to simulate the appearance like blood vessels in the meat. The crew employed great detail to render it as unappetizing as they could.

An Awkward Star Encounter

What’s been your most embarrassing run-in with a famous person?

I was at a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and most of the time when I meet another Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really identified her. And as she rose, it was Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I do know your work!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to say anything.

The Source of a Name

Articles have confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet you've mentioned you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter once and for all?

Yes – I was named after the Sydney suburb. Mum learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a shopping centre at that location, and the name sounded like a nice name.

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 final product turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. The sense of time there is unique. In Australia, you normally have a call sheet and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a novel approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know the next location the next day how we were going to do it. And then I would be in during a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was the producer popping open a bottle during filming, to start a party.” The result was great, but goodness, it’s a really different approach to film-making.

A Hidden Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I simply have that kind of a brain. So I think had I not ended up in acting, I likely might have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, a speaker came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from failure than is gained from triumph. Success, you never really understand precisely why it happened. With failure, you learn abundant.