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In a candid conversation, the acclaimed performer delves on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through 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?

Straight away, the blue groper found at a specific shoreline – since it is a local landmark, and people go there to see it. It strikes me as remarkable that there’s a local fish that folks genuinely go and see and discuss – it holds a unique status.

A Film Favorite to Return To

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this picture. When I was childhood, it used to come on television occasionally, and one time I recorded it. I found it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at the Ritz and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of a friend of mine, and so we attended and just laughed and laughed. It is a masterful work of comedy and the entire cast in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not successful. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.

A Priceless Lesson Learned From a Co-Star

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone a colleague?

Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but back then we were not a couple. We portrayed characters opposite each other and during the premiere I stumbled – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script. I didn’t know what I’d done but I abruptly sensed things were off. I remember glancing toward him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene took off again and proceeded splendidly. However, I believe the insight gained in that moment was, first, always trust the people you’re working with. If you don’t know where you are, by looking and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It’s such communal thing, performing live. And next, just to have a sense of fun about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great way if you’re really present in that moment. It may become an unexpected boon when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Heartening Exchanges with Fans

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

There isn't just one particular interaction but when I encounter devotees of Lord of the Rings, especially female fans, I am told numerous accounts about how that character impacted them when they were younger … things that had happened in their lives and the extent to which that character meant to 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 question is invariably regarding the stew her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew really that bad?” It’s become such a joke, the whole thing involving that dish, and all fans wish to know the contents of the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you believe she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, in my view, obsessed with the humour of that situation. And I provide lengthy descriptions listing the components that constituted the concoction – because I remember the efforts made; such as put bits of colored thread to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. They went to great detail to make it look as unappetizing as possible.

An Awkward Celebrity Meeting

What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a pilates class and there was a woman lying down doing pilates, and the instructor remarked, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I made some joke inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Because it’s an uncommon moniker and most of the time when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. 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 so embarrassed. I wished to explain: “Oh my gosh, I do know your work!” I consider she’s so fabulous and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Name

It’s been 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 clarify this definitively?

Indeed, I was christened for 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.

Pandemonium on Location

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

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon I experienced the most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the final product turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in a distinct manner. Their concept of time there is really different. Typically, you normally have a schedule and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a novel approach for me. All aspects were being assembled at the final moment, and sometimes the plan was unclear where they were shooting the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in during a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was a crew member popping open a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Secret Skill

Do you have a secretly good at?

I naturally possess good with numbers. I retain numbers easier than I learn dialogue a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think if I hadn’t pursued acting, I likely might have entered a field something to do with numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Finest Piece of Advice Given

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

When I was in high school, someone came to speak as we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, since one gains so much more from failure than is gained from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, the lessons are abundant.