In a candid interview, the acclaimed performer delves on subjects as varied as her latest role as a regal sea creature to the invaluable wisdom learned through onstage mishaps and meeting admirers.
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 you choose and why?
Without hesitation, that particular fish residing near Clovelly beach – since it is like an institution, and individuals visit specifically to spot it. It strikes me as remarkable that a resident aquatic creature that people actually go and see and discuss – it’s a special fish.
Which movie do you always return to, and why?
The 1942 film To Be Or Not To Be. I love this film. During my growing up, it would air on the ABC every now and again, and one time I videotaped it. I found it was so funny. It’s the legendary Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Not long ago they were showing it at the Ritz and it turned out that it was the preferred movie of an acquaintance, and so we attended and just laughed repeatedly. It is a masterful work of comedy and all the actors in it are superb. The director Mel Brooks did a remake in the 1980s – which was not as effective. But the original film is an exceptional farce, worth viewing regularly.
What’s the best lesson you took away from someone you’ve worked with?
Years ago I performed in A Doll’s House with Pete – my husband now, but at the time we were not together. We were playing as scene partners and during the premiere I tripped up – I skipped forward some dialogue in the script. I was unaware of my error but I abruptly sensed something wasn’t right. I recall glancing toward 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, first, consistently rely on the people you’re working with. When you lose your place, by looking and look at 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 regarding it. Sometimes when something goes wrong, things actually spark off in a wonderfully positive way if you’re fully engaged then. It can be a gift when things go absolutely awry.
What’s been your most touching encounter with a fan?
There isn't a single particular interaction but when I meet fans of Lord of the Rings, particularly women, I am told numerous stories about what Eowyn impacted 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 in those times.
Which questions get asked about the most by Lord of the Rings fans?
The most detailed inquiry concerns invariably regarding that infamous meal her character prepares for Aragorn. “Was the stew really that bad?” It has evolved into such a joke, the whole thing involving that dish, and everyone wants to know the contents of the pot, and its preparation method, and in your opinion her skills improved now, or do you think she really is a bad cook? People are, in my view, fascinated by the comedy of that scene. And I provide lengthy descriptions describing the ingredients that made up the concoction – because I remember what they did; like they even put bits of red cotton to make it look like blood vessels in the meat. They went to extreme measures to render it as bad as they could.
What’s been your most cringeworthy run-in with a famous person?
I attended a fitness session and there was a woman on a mat doing pilates, and the teacher remarked, “Oh, Miranda, this is Miranda.” And I attempted a lighthearted remark about, “oh, are you a journalist?” Since Miranda is an uncommon moniker and often when someone’s a Miranda, they’re a journalist. I wasn’t really identified her. And when she got up, it was the actress Miranda Richardson. Then I didn’t know words. I was obliged to complete my class, and I experienced intense awkwardness. I wished to explain: “Goodness, I do know who you are!” I think she’s so fabulous and I was simply too awestruck to utter a syllable.
It’s been confidently claimed that you were named after Prospero’s daughter in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and yet I’ve read you saying otherwise – can you clarify this once and for all?
Indeed, I was named after the Sydney suburb. My mother learned via broadcast that they were inaugurating a mall at Miranda, and she thought seemed a nice name.
What was the 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 of my career, and yet the film emerged incredibly well. But they just work in such a different way. The sense of time there is unique. In Australia, you receive a call sheet and you have to be on set by a certain time. But this was sort of flexible – one would appear whenever you happen to be ready. It was a really different approach for me. The elements were being assembled at the very last minute, 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 during a scene and wondering, “What was that noise that just interrupted the scene? Ah, it was a crew member opening a bottle on set, because he’s making a party.” The result was excellent, but wow, it’s a really different approach to film-making.
Do you have a secretly good at?
I’ve always been an aptitude for numbers. I memorise numbers easier than I memorise words a lot of the time, I simply have a numerically-oriented mind. So I think if I hadn’t ended up in acting, I likely might have worked in involving numbers, like math or finance.
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?
During my time in secondary school, a speaker addressed us as we were graduating and they said, “don’t be afraid to fail” … which I think is supremely valuable counsel, because you learn far more from failure than you learn from triumph. With success, one rarely understand precisely why it happened. Failure, the lessons are so much more.
