🔗 Share this article

In a candid interview, 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 meeting admirers.

Given the Chance to Become a Fish for a Day

The most recent 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 you choose and why?

Without hesitation, the blue groper found at Clovelly beach – because it’s like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. I just think as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it’s a special fish.

A Film Favorite to Revisit

Which movie do you repeatedly watch, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. When I was childhood, it used to come on the ABC occasionally, and once I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It’s Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently 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 simply chuckled repeatedly. It’s such great piece of comedy and the entire cast in it are fantastic. The director Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. But Lubitsch's version is a brilliant comedy, to be watched regularly.

A Priceless Lesson Learned From a Fellow Actor

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

I was doing A Doll’s House alongside Peter O’Brien – now my spouse, but back then we were not together. We were playing opposite each other and on opening night I stumbled – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I was unaware what I’d done but I suddenly realised things were off. I recall looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then the scene regained momentum and proceeded splendidly. But I think the insight gained then was, firstly, always trust the people you’re working with. If you don’t know your place, if you turn around and toward the actors you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be somehow. It is a profoundly collaborative endeavor, performing live. And next, to maintain a sense of fun regarding it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things can ignite in a really great direction provided you are fully engaged then. It can be a gift when things go completely awry.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

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

There isn't a single 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 meant to them when they were younger … events that occurred in their lives and the extent to which that character signified for them and was a form of support to them in those times.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns always about the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode involving that dish, and all fans wish to know what was in the stew, and how was it made, and do you think 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 lengthy descriptions listing the ingredients that constituted the stew – as I recall the efforts made; such as adding pieces of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.

A Cringeworthy Star Meeting

What’s been your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a pilates class and another participant lying down exercising, and the teacher said to me, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made 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 when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. At that point, I was at a loss for words. I still had to complete my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I am aware of who you are!” I consider her talent is immense and I was simply too awestruck to say anything.

The Origin of a Name

Articles have confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you clarify this definitively?

Yes – I was christened for a district in Sydney. Mum learned via broadcast that they were opening a mall at Miranda, and the name seemed a nice name.

Chaos 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 that was the least organized set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film turned out incredibly well. But the local crew operated in such a different way. Their concept of time there is unique. Typically, you normally have a schedule and must arrive on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a really different way of working for me. All aspects were being assembled at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location or the methodology. And then I would be in during a scene and be like, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was the producer popping open a bottle on set, because he’s making a party.” It turned out great, but wow, it’s a distinct style of film-making.

A Hidden Skill

What are you secretly good at?

I naturally possess an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words often, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I think had I not ended up in acting, I probably would have entered a field involving numbers, like math or finance.

The Finest Guidance Ever Received

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

During my time in secondary school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and they said, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is the best piece of advice, because you learn so much more from setbacks than is gained from success. Success, one rarely comprehends exactly how it happened. With failure, you learn so much more.