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In a candid interview, the acclaimed performer delves on subjects as varied as her newest character as a regal sea creature to the profound lessons gleaned from onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.

If You Could Be a Fish for a Day

Your latest character portrays 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 a specific shoreline – because it’s a local landmark, and people go there specifically to spot it. It strikes me it’s cool that a resident aquatic creature that folks genuinely seek out and talk about – it holds a unique status.

A Cinematic Staple to Return To

Which movie do you always return to, and why?

The 1942 comedy To Be Or Not To Be. I adore this film. When I was childhood, it used to come on television every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was hilarious. It stars Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at a cinema and I discovered that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we went and just laughed repeatedly. It’s such masterful work of comedy and the entire cast in it are fantastic. Mel Brooks remade it in the 1980s – that wasn’t as effective. But the original film is a brilliant comedy, worth viewing regularly.

A Priceless Lesson Learned From a Co-Star

What’s the best lesson you learned from someone you’ve worked with?

I was doing A Doll’s House with Pete – now my spouse, but at the time we were not together. We portrayed characters opposite each other and on opening night I stumbled – I jumped ahead 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 expertly rescued the moment, and then the scene regained momentum and went really, really well. However, I believe the insight gained then was, firstly, consistently rely on the individuals in your scene. When you lose where you are, if you turn around and toward the people you’re with, you can rediscover where you’re meant to be in some way. It is a profoundly communal thing, acting on stage. And secondly, just to have a sense of fun regarding it. Occasionally when a mistake occurs, things can ignite in a really great way provided you are really present then. It may become a gift when things go completely the wrong way.

Heartening Interactions with Fans

Can you describe your most memorable interaction with a fan?

There isn't just one specific meeting 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 growing up … things that had happened in their lives and how much that character signified for them and was some kind of help to them during those periods.

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

The most specific question is always about that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew as terrible as it looked?” It’s become a running gag, the entire episode 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 believe she really is a bad cook? Fans seem, I think, obsessed with the comedy of that scene. And I go into great detail listing the ingredients that constituted the stew – because I remember what they did; like they even 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 Celebrity Encounter

What’s been your most cringeworthy celebrity encounter?

I was at a pilates class and another participant on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher remarked, “Hello Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted a lighthearted remark inquiring, “might you be a journalist?” Since Miranda is an unusual name and most of the time 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 didn’t know words. I still had to stay and do my class, and I experienced so embarrassed. I wanted to say: “Oh my gosh, I do know who you are!” I think her talent is immense and I was just too starstruck to utter a syllable.

The Source of a Moniker

It’s been confidently claimed that you were given your name from Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you settle the matter definitively?

Yes – I was christened for the Sydney suburb. My mother heard on the radio that they were opening a shopping centre at that location, and the name seemed a nice name.

Chaos on Location

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

When I was working in Brazil on Reaching for the Moon that was the most chaotic set of my career, and yet the final product turned out incredibly well. But the local crew operated in such a different way. Their concept of time there is really different. In Australia, you receive a schedule and you have to be on set punctually. But this was rather flexible – you come on set whenever you happen to be ready. It was a really different way of working for me. All aspects were all coming together at the final moment, and at times they wouldn’t know where they were shooting or 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 just interrupted the scene? Oh, it’s the producer opening a bottle during filming, because he’s making a party.” The result was great, but wow, it’s a really different style of film-making.

A Hidden Talent

What are you secretly good at?

I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words often, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think if I hadn’t ended up in acting, I probably would have entered a field involving numbers, like mathematics or finance.

The Best Guidance Ever Received

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

When I was in secondary school, a speaker addressed us when we were graduating and stated, “have no fear to fail” … an idea I consider is supremely valuable counsel, since one gains far more from setbacks than is gained from success. Success, you never really comprehends precisely why it happened. Failure, you learn abundant.