In a candid conversation, the acclaimed performer reflects on topics ranging from her latest role as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.
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?
Without hesitation, that particular fish found at a specific shoreline – since it is a local landmark, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. I just think it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that people actually go and see and talk about – it’s a special fish.
What film do you repeatedly watch, and why?
The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this picture. When I was growing up, it used to come on the ABC every now and again, and once I recorded it. I just thought it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and comedian 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 just laughed and laughed. It’s such masterful work of comedy and all the actors in it are superb. 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.
What’s the best lesson you took away from someone a colleague?
I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – now my spouse, but back then we were not a couple. We portrayed characters as scene partners and during the premiere I tripped up – I skipped forward a few lines in the script. I was unaware of my error but I suddenly realised something wasn’t right. I recall looking at him, and he expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene took off again and proceeded splendidly. But I think what I learned then was, first, consistently rely on the people in your scene. If you don’t know where you are, if you turn around and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover your correct position in some way. It is a profoundly communal thing, performing live. And next, to maintain a lighthearted attitude about it. Occasionally when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a really great direction provided you are fully engaged then. It can be an unexpected boon when things go absolutely the wrong way.
Can you describe your most memorable encounter with a fan?
It’s not just one specific meeting but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous accounts about what Eowyn impacted them when they were growing up … 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.
Which questions get asked about the most by Lord of the Rings fans?
The most specific inquiry concerns always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew really that bad?” It has evolved into such a joke, the whole thing about the stew, and everyone wants to know what was in the stew, 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, fascinated by the comedy of that scene. And I provide great detail describing the ingredients that constituted the concoction – because I remember the efforts made; like they even 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.
What was your most embarrassing celebrity encounter?
I attended a pilates class and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher said to me, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted some joke about, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and most of the time when someone’s a Miranda, they work in media. I wasn’t really identified her. And as she rose, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. At that point, I didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I felt intense awkwardness. I wanted to say: “Goodness, I am aware of who you are!” I think her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.
It’s been repeatedly stated that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read stating otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?
Yes – I was christened for the Sydney suburb. My mother heard on the radio that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and the name seemed a pleasant choice.
What’s the most chaotic thing that’s ever happened on set?
When I was working in Brazil for the film Reaching for the Moon I experienced the least organized set I’ve ever worked on, and yet the film turned out brilliantly. But the local crew operated in such a different way. The sense of time there is really different. In Australia, you normally have a call sheet and must arrive on set by a certain time. But this was rather flexible – one would appear at one's convenience. It was a really different approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the final moment, and at times the plan was unclear where they were shooting the next day how we were going to do it. And then you’d be in the middle of a scene and be like, “What caused that sound that disturbed the scene? Oh, it’s the producer popping open some champagne on set, to start a party.” It turned out excellent, but goodness, it’s a distinct style of film-making.
Do you have a secretly good at?
I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers more readily than I memorise words often, I’ve just got that kind of a brain. So I believe had I not pursued acting, I probably would have entered a field something to do with numbers, like mathematics or accounting.
What is the greatest piece of advice you have ever received?
When I was in high school, someone addressed us when we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains so much more from failure than is gained from triumph. Success, you never really understand exactly how it happened. With failure, the lessons are so much more.
