Miranda Otto, the actor forever cherished by fans for her portrayal of the shieldmaiden Eowyn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is embracing a very different kind of royalty. She voices the Queen of the Cuttlefish in the new animated family film, The Pout-Pout Fish.
From Middle-earth to the Deep Sea: A New Royal Role
In a wide-ranging interview, Otto shared insights from her career, reflecting on the unexpected gifts of on-stage mishaps and the character that defined her for a generation. When asked which fish she'd choose to be for a day, she pointed to the blue groper at Clovelly Beach in Sydney, praising it as a local institution that people specifically visit.
Her cinematic comfort food remains the 1942 Ernst Lubitsch classic To Be or Not To Be, starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, a film she recorded off television as a child and still finds brilliantly funny.
Theatre Lessons and Embracing Failure
One of the most profound professional lessons came during a performance of A Doll's House with her now-husband, Peter O'Brien. "I tripped up – I jumped ahead a few lines in the script," Otto recalled. O'Brien seamlessly guided her back, turning a potential disaster into a moment of connection. "It can be a gift when things go absolutely the wrong way," she mused, highlighting the importance of trust and presence in live performance.
This philosophy connects to the best advice she ever received, given at her high school graduation: "don't be afraid to fail." Otto firmly believes we learn far more from our failures than our successes.
The Enduring Legacy of Eowyn and *That* Stew
Decades on, Miranda Otto's interaction with Lord of the Rings fandom remains deeply personal. She is consistently moved when women share stories of what Eowyn meant to them growing up, often citing the character as a source of strength during difficult times.
Yet, the most frequent and specific fan question is decidedly less epic: it's all about the infamous stew her character serves Aragorn in an extended scene from The Two Towers. "Was the stew really that bad?" is the constant query. Otto delights in detailing the prop team's dedication to making it look unappetising, recalling they even added bits of red cotton to mimic veins in the meat.
She also settled a long-standing rumour about her name, confirming she was named after the Sydney suburb of Miranda, not Shakespeare's character from The Tempest.
Chaotic Sets and Secret Skills
Reflecting on chaotic filming experiences, Otto pointed to the 2013 film Reaching for the Moon, shot in Brazil. The lack of rigid schedules and last-minute planning was a culture shock, exemplified by the producer popping open champagne on set mid-scene. Despite the chaos, she notes the final product was excellent.
As for a hidden talent? "I've always been good with numbers," she revealed, suggesting she might have pursued mathematics or accounting if not for acting. The interview concluded with a cringeworthy celebrity encounter involving a case of mistaken identity with the brilliant Miranda Richardson at a London pilates class, leaving Otto too starstruck to recover gracefully.
The Pout-Pout Fish is in Australian cinemas now and arrives in US cinemas on 20 March.
