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During a revealing interview, the acclaimed performer delves on subjects as varied as her newest character as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from theatrical mistakes and fan interactions.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest role is Queen 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 – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there to see it. It strikes me as remarkable that there’s a local fish that people actually seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Favorite to Revisit

What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. 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 the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Recently they were showing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was also the favourite film of a friend of mine, and so we went and simply chuckled repeatedly. It is a great piece of humor and the entire cast in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t successful. 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 a colleague?

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 tripped up – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I didn’t know of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I remember looking at him, and he completely saved me, and then our performance regained momentum and proceeded splendidly. But I think what I learned in that moment was, firstly, consistently rely on the people in your scene. If you don’t know your place, by looking and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be in some way. It’s such collaborative endeavor, performing live. And next, to maintain a lighthearted attitude about it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way if you’re really present then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely the wrong way.

Memorable Interactions with Fans

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

There isn't just one particular interaction but when I encounter devotees 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 … things that had happened in their lives and how much Eowyn meant to them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

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

The most detailed inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew really that bad?” It’s become a running gag, the whole thing about the stew, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and how was it made, and in your opinion she’s a better cook now, or do you think she really is a poor chef? People are, I think, fascinated by the humour of that situation. And I provide great detail listing the ingredients that made up the stew – as I recall the efforts made; like they even adding pieces of red cotton to simulate the appearance like bits of veins in the meat. They went to great detail to render it as bad as they could.

An Awkward Celebrity Encounter

What’s been your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?

I attended a fitness session and another participant lying down doing pilates, and the instructor remarked, “Oh, Miranda, meet Miranda.” And I made a lighthearted remark inquiring, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time when I meet another Miranda, they work in media. I hadn't properly identified her. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know what to say. I still had to complete my class, and I felt so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I do know your work!” I think 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 you've mentioned you saying otherwise – can you clarify this once and for all?

Indeed, I was named after a district in Sydney. Mum heard on the radio that they were opening a shopping centre at that location, and the name sounded like a pleasant choice.

Pandemonium 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 I experienced the most chaotic set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film turned out incredibly well. But they just work in a distinct manner. The sense 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 really different approach for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the next location the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in during a scene and be like, “What was that noise that disturbed the scene? Ah, it was the producer opening some champagne on set, to start a party.” It turned out great, but wow, it’s a distinct approach to film-making.

A Hidden Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I retain numbers more readily than I memorise words often, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think had I not pursued acting, I likely might have worked in something to do with numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Best Piece of Advice Ever Received

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

When I was in secondary school, a speaker addressed us as we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is the best piece of advice, since one gains far more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, you never really comprehends exactly how it happened. Failure, you learn so much more.