Miranda Otto
Encyclopedia
Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. The daughter of actors Lindsay and Barry Otto
and the sister of actress Gracie Otto
, she began acting at age eighteen, and has performed in a variety of independent and major studio films.
Her first major film appearance was in the 1986 film Emma's War, in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II. After a decade of critically acclaimed roles in Australian films, she gained Hollywood's attention after appearing in supporting roles in The Thin Red Line
(1998) and What Lies Beneath
(2000). Her breakthrough role came in 2002, when she portrayed Éowyn
in The Lord of the Rings
trilogy. More recent work includes a starring role in the 2008 now-cancelled American television series Cashmere Mafia
, and Australian films such as In Her Skin and Blessed
(2009).
to stage and film actor Barry Otto
and former actress Lindsay Otto (who retired from acting upon Miranda Otto's birth). Gracie Otto, Miranda's half-sister, is also an actress. Otto was raised in Newcastle
and Brisbane, and briefly resided in Hong Kong following her parents' separation in 1973. She spent weekends and holidays with her father in Sydney and developed an interest in acting through him.
In her childhood, Otto and her friends wrote scripts and designed costumes and flyers in their spare time. She appeared in several plays at the Nimrod Theatre, which attracted the attention of casting director Faith Martin. Subsequently, Otto received a role in the 1986 World War II drama Emma's War. As a teenager, Otto excelled in academics and in ballet, which she considered as a career option. However, she had to abandon this goal due to moderate scoliosis
. Otto graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art
in Sydney in 1990. Prior to graduation, she appeared in minor film roles including Initiation (1987) and The 13th Floor (1988).
, was her breakthrough role, which brought her to the attention of the Australian film industry and the general public. In the film, directed by Kathy Mueller, she starred as a young woman who could communicate with horses. Her appearance garnered Otto her first Australian Film Institute
nomination for "Best Actress" the following year.
Otto's next role was in the film The Last Days of Chez Nous
, which portrayed the complex relationships between the members of an Australian family. The film earned Otto her second Australian Film Institute nomination, this time for "Best Supporting Actress". In 1993, Otto co-starred with Noah Taylor
in the sexually provocative comedy film The Nostradamus Kid
, which was based on the memories of author Bob Ellis
during the 1960s. Otto was drawn to the film because she was "fascinated by the period and the people who came out of it." A small role in the independent film Sex Is a Four Letter Word followed in 1995.
In 1995, Otto began to doubt her career choice as she failed to get the parts for which she auditioned. She fled to her home in Newcastle for almost a year, during which she painted her mother's house. In 1996, director Shirley Barrett cast Otto as a shy waitress in the film Love Serenade
. She played Dimity Hurley, a lonely young woman, who competes with her older sister Vicki-Ann for the attention of a famous DJ from Brisbane
. The film was met with positive reviews and Otto's performance was praised: Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews felt that Otto's performance was "the most interesting and funniest" of the film.
Otto's first starring roles were in the 1997 films The Well
and Doing Time for Patsy Cline
. When Otto received the film script for The Well, she refused to read it, fearing that she would not get the part. Otto believed that she could not convincingly play the role of Katherine, who is supposed to be eighteen, as she was thirty years old at the time. The film, directed by Samantha Lang, starred Otto as a teenager involved in a claustrophobic relationship with a lonely older woman. The Well received mixed reviews; critic Paul Fisher wrote that Otto's performance was not "convincing" as she was "playing another repetitious character about whom little is revealed", while Louise Keller stated that Otto had delivered "her best screen performance yet." Otto earned her third Australian Film Institute nomination for the film. Later that year, she co-starred with Richard Roxburgh
in the drama Doing Time for Patsy Cline. The low-budget Australian film required Otto to perform country music
standards and also received mixed reviews from film critics.
Soon after the release of The Well and Doing Time for Patsy Cline, magazines and other media outlets were eager to profile the actress. In 1997, Otto began dating her Doing Time for Patsy Cline co-star Richard Roxburgh. Her involvement with Roxburgh made her a regular subject of Australian tabloid magazines and media at the time, a role to which she was unaccustomed.
Otto's next project was the romantic comedy Dead Letter Office (1998). The film was Otto's first with her father, Barry
, who makes a brief appearance. In the Winter Dark, directed by James Bogle, followed later that year. Otto played Ronnie, a pregnant woman recently abandoned by her boyfriend. The film was a critical success in Australia, and Otto was nominated for her fourth Australian Film Institute Award. A small role in the big-budget World War II film The Thin Red Line
, starring George Clooney
and Sean Penn
, led to further film roles outside of Australia, such as in Italy, where she co-starred as Ruth in the low-budget Italian film La volpe a tre zampe ("The Three-legged Fox"), produced in 2001 and broadcasted for the first time on Italian television in March 2009.
role was opposite Harrison Ford
and Michelle Pfeiffer
in the suspense thriller What Lies Beneath
in 2000. She played Mary Feur, a mysterious next-door neighbor. The film was met with mixed reviews, but was an international success, grossing US$291 million. In 2001, Otto was cast as a naturalist
in the comedy Human Nature
. Writer Charlie Kaufman
, impressed by her audition two years earlier for his film Being John Malkovich
, arranged for Otto to audition and meet with the film's director Michel Gondry
. Human Nature was both a commercial and critical disappointment. Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson criticized Otto's French accent and wrote that she "doesn't seem to mesh with what's going on around her". That same year, she also appeared in the BBC
adaptation of Anthony Trollope
's The Way We Live Now
, as a strong-willed American Southerner determined to manipulate Cillian Murphy
into marrying her.
In 1999, Otto was cast as Éowyn
, a shieldmaiden
of Rohan
, in The Lord of the Rings
film trilogy. Director Peter Jackson
cast her immediately after viewing the audition video she had filmed in Australia. For the role, Otto spent six weeks learning stunt choreography and horseback riding. Otto's character was introduced in the trilogy's second film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002 and appeared in the third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
, the following year. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a critical and financial success, and the third film won the Academy Award for Best Picture
in 2004. Otto's performance earned her an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Otto's next project was the Australian television miniseries
Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story (2004). The film is a drama that portrays the story of Lindy Chamberlain
, who was convicted (in 1982) of killing her baby daughter, Azaria, in one of Australia's most publicized murder trials. Otto was cast as Chamberlain after her husband, Peter O'Brien, had been cast as prosecutor Ian Barker. She was drawn to the role because it provided her with the "prospect of exploring an unconventional character." At the 2005 Logie Award
s, Otto won "Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" for her role.
Director Steven Spielberg
, impressed by Otto's performance in The Lord of the Rings, called her to ask if she would play opposite Tom Cruise
in the big-budget science fiction film War of the Worlds
(2005). Otto, pregnant at the time, believed she would have to turn down the role, but the script was reworked to accommodate her. After the birth of her daughter in 2005, Otto took a rest from films to concentrate on motherhood and theatre roles in Australia.
In 2007, Otto starred as Cricket Stewart, the wife of a successful director, in the television miniseries The Starter Wife. That same year, she was cast in the American television series Cashmere Mafia
. In the series she plays Juliet Draper, a successful female executive who must rely on her friends to juggle the demands of a career and family in New York City. Otto chose to star in the series because "American television at the moment is so interesting and, particularly, the characters for women are so fantastic" and she "liked the idea of having a character over a long period of time and developing it." The series was cancelled in May 2008.
debut in the 1986 production of The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant for the Sydney Theatre Company
. Three more theatrical productions for the Sydney Theatre Company followed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2002, she returned to the stage playing Nora Helmer in A Doll's House
opposite her future husband Peter O'Brien. Otto's performance earned her a 2003 Helpmann Award
nomination and the MO Award for "Best Female Actor in a Play".
Her next theatre role was in the psychological thriller
Boy Gets Girl
(2005), in which she played Theresa, a journalist for a New York magazine. Otto committed to the project days before she found out she was pregnant. Robyn Nevin, the director, rescheduled the production from December 2004 to September 2005 so Otto could appear in it. In 2005, Nevin began pre-production on a play that she commissioned especially for Otto.
. Otto and O'Brien have one child, a daughter Darcey, who was born on 1 April 2005. The pregnancy almost forced her to turn down her role in War of the Worlds. Since the birth of her daughter, Otto has limited her work so she can spend time with her family at their home in Australia.
In a 2004 interview, Otto stated that she hopes she will never be as famous as fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman
because she's "not sure [she] could ever deal with that."
Barry Otto
Barry Otto is an Australian actor with a long list of memorable roles on stage and in film. Otto received an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in Strictly Ballroom as well as being nominated for Bliss, Cosi and The More Things Change......
and the sister of actress Gracie Otto
Gracie Otto
Gracie Otto is an Australian actress, film producer, writer and film director.- Early life :Gracie Otto is the daughter of the Australian actor Barry Otto and Susan Hill. Her sister is actress Miranda Otto and her brother-in-law is actor Peter O'Brien...
, she began acting at age eighteen, and has performed in a variety of independent and major studio films.
Her first major film appearance was in the 1986 film Emma's War, in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II. After a decade of critically acclaimed roles in Australian films, she gained Hollywood's attention after appearing in supporting roles in The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1998 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays men in: C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division; in particular those soldiers played by Sean Penn, Jim...
(1998) and What Lies Beneath
What Lies Beneath
What Lies Beneath is a 2000 American supernatural horror-thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis. It stars veteran actors Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a well-to-do couple who experience a strange haunting that uncovers secrets about their past....
(2000). Her breakthrough role came in 2002, when she portrayed Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
in The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
trilogy. More recent work includes a starring role in the 2008 now-cancelled American television series Cashmere Mafia
Cashmere Mafia
Cashmere Mafia is an American television dramedy which ran on ABC from January 6, 2008 to February 20, 2008. The series was created by Kevin Wade, who also served as executive producer alongside Darren Star, Gail Katz, Jeff Rake and Michael Pressman, with Susie Fitzgerald co-executive producing....
, and Australian films such as In Her Skin and Blessed
Blessed (2009 film)
Blessed is a 2009 drama film. It was released in Australia on 10 September 2009. It stars Miranda Otto and Frances O'Connor. It is a film adaptation of the play Who's Afraid of the Working Class?....
(2009).
Early life
Otto was born in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
to stage and film actor Barry Otto
Barry Otto
Barry Otto is an Australian actor with a long list of memorable roles on stage and in film. Otto received an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in Strictly Ballroom as well as being nominated for Bliss, Cosi and The More Things Change......
and former actress Lindsay Otto (who retired from acting upon Miranda Otto's birth). Gracie Otto, Miranda's half-sister, is also an actress. Otto was raised in Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
and Brisbane, and briefly resided in Hong Kong following her parents' separation in 1973. She spent weekends and holidays with her father in Sydney and developed an interest in acting through him.
In her childhood, Otto and her friends wrote scripts and designed costumes and flyers in their spare time. She appeared in several plays at the Nimrod Theatre, which attracted the attention of casting director Faith Martin. Subsequently, Otto received a role in the 1986 World War II drama Emma's War. As a teenager, Otto excelled in academics and in ballet, which she considered as a career option. However, she had to abandon this goal due to moderate scoliosis
Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...
. Otto graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
in Sydney in 1990. Prior to graduation, she appeared in minor film roles including Initiation (1987) and The 13th Floor (1988).
Early career
Otto's first post-graduation film role in 1991, as Nell Tiscowitz in The Girl Who Came LateThe Girl Who Came Late
The Girl Who Came Late aka Daydream Believer is a 1991 Australian romantic comedy film starring Miranda Otto, Martin Kemp and Gia Carides; and directed by Kathy Mueller. Otto was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award for "Best Actress in a Lead Role"...
, was her breakthrough role, which brought her to the attention of the Australian film industry and the general public. In the film, directed by Kathy Mueller, she starred as a young woman who could communicate with horses. Her appearance garnered Otto her first Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
nomination for "Best Actress" the following year.
Otto's next role was in the film The Last Days of Chez Nous
The Last Days of Chez Nous
The Last Days of Chez Nous is an Australian drama, directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Helen Garner. Made in a style which emphasizes naturalism over melodrama, the film centres around what happens after Vicki arrives at the house of her older sister Beth, whose French husband falls for her...
, which portrayed the complex relationships between the members of an Australian family. The film earned Otto her second Australian Film Institute nomination, this time for "Best Supporting Actress". In 1993, Otto co-starred with Noah Taylor
Noah Taylor
Noah George Taylor is an English-born Australian actor.-Early life:Taylor, elder of two boys, was born in London, England, the son of Maggie, a journalist and book editor, and Paul Taylor, a copywriter and journalist. Taylor's Australian parents returned to Australia when he was five, and he grew...
in the sexually provocative comedy film The Nostradamus Kid
The Nostradamus Kid
The Nostradamus Kid is a 1992 Australian feature film written and directed by Bob Ellis.The film is a romantic comedy about the religious and sexual coming of age of a 1960s Seventh-day Adventist boy. Ken Elkin is a "randy young man" who is told that the world is about to end...
, which was based on the memories of author Bob Ellis
Bob Ellis
Bob Ellis is an Australian writer, journalist, film-maker and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germaine Greer, Les Murray, John Bell, Ken Horler, and Mungo McCallum...
during the 1960s. Otto was drawn to the film because she was "fascinated by the period and the people who came out of it." A small role in the independent film Sex Is a Four Letter Word followed in 1995.
In 1995, Otto began to doubt her career choice as she failed to get the parts for which she auditioned. She fled to her home in Newcastle for almost a year, during which she painted her mother's house. In 1996, director Shirley Barrett cast Otto as a shy waitress in the film Love Serenade
Love Serenade
Love Serenade is a 1996 Australian feature film directed by Shirley Barrett. It is a comedy film which has the tagline: "Two sisters will do anything to hook the right man."...
. She played Dimity Hurley, a lonely young woman, who competes with her older sister Vicki-Ann for the attention of a famous DJ from Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. The film was met with positive reviews and Otto's performance was praised: Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews felt that Otto's performance was "the most interesting and funniest" of the film.
Otto's first starring roles were in the 1997 films The Well
The Well (1997 film)
The Well is a 1997 Australian film, based on the novel by Elizabeth Jolley.-Synopsis:The film is about a young girl named Katherine and her older friend Hester who live on an isolated farm run by Hester and her father Francis. Katherine works as a maid and wants to leave because there's too much work...
and Doing Time for Patsy Cline
Doing Time for Patsy Cline
Doing Time for Patsy Cline is a 1997 Australian multi-award-winning film starring Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh, and Matt Day and directed by Chris Kennedy.-Plot:...
. When Otto received the film script for The Well, she refused to read it, fearing that she would not get the part. Otto believed that she could not convincingly play the role of Katherine, who is supposed to be eighteen, as she was thirty years old at the time. The film, directed by Samantha Lang, starred Otto as a teenager involved in a claustrophobic relationship with a lonely older woman. The Well received mixed reviews; critic Paul Fisher wrote that Otto's performance was not "convincing" as she was "playing another repetitious character about whom little is revealed", while Louise Keller stated that Otto had delivered "her best screen performance yet." Otto earned her third Australian Film Institute nomination for the film. Later that year, she co-starred with Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains.-Early life:...
in the drama Doing Time for Patsy Cline. The low-budget Australian film required Otto to perform country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
standards and also received mixed reviews from film critics.
Soon after the release of The Well and Doing Time for Patsy Cline, magazines and other media outlets were eager to profile the actress. In 1997, Otto began dating her Doing Time for Patsy Cline co-star Richard Roxburgh. Her involvement with Roxburgh made her a regular subject of Australian tabloid magazines and media at the time, a role to which she was unaccustomed.
Otto's next project was the romantic comedy Dead Letter Office (1998). The film was Otto's first with her father, Barry
Barry Otto
Barry Otto is an Australian actor with a long list of memorable roles on stage and in film. Otto received an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in Strictly Ballroom as well as being nominated for Bliss, Cosi and The More Things Change......
, who makes a brief appearance. In the Winter Dark, directed by James Bogle, followed later that year. Otto played Ronnie, a pregnant woman recently abandoned by her boyfriend. The film was a critical success in Australia, and Otto was nominated for her fourth Australian Film Institute Award. A small role in the big-budget World War II film The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1998 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays men in: C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division; in particular those soldiers played by Sean Penn, Jim...
, starring George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, led to further film roles outside of Australia, such as in Italy, where she co-starred as Ruth in the low-budget Italian film La volpe a tre zampe ("The Three-legged Fox"), produced in 2001 and broadcasted for the first time on Italian television in March 2009.
Hollywood
Otto's first HollywoodCinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
role was opposite Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
and Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
in the suspense thriller What Lies Beneath
What Lies Beneath
What Lies Beneath is a 2000 American supernatural horror-thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis. It stars veteran actors Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a well-to-do couple who experience a strange haunting that uncovers secrets about their past....
in 2000. She played Mary Feur, a mysterious next-door neighbor. The film was met with mixed reviews, but was an international success, grossing US$291 million. In 2001, Otto was cast as a naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
in the comedy Human Nature
Human Nature (film)
Human Nature is a 2001 American comedy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. The film stars Tim Robbins, Rhys Ifans, Miranda Otto and Patricia Arquette...
. Writer Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman
Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. His film work includes Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York...
, impressed by her audition two years earlier for his film Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...
, arranged for Otto to audition and meet with the film's director Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
. Human Nature was both a commercial and critical disappointment. Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson criticized Otto's French accent and wrote that she "doesn't seem to mesh with what's going on around her". That same year, she also appeared in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
adaptation of Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
's The Way We Live Now
The Way We Live Now (2001 TV serial)
The Way We Live Now is a 2001 four-part television adaptation of the novel by Anthony Trollope. The serial was first broadcast on the BBC and was directed by David Yates, written by Andrew Davies and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark...
, as a strong-willed American Southerner determined to manipulate Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy is an Irish film and theatre actor. He is often noted by critics for his chameleonic performances in diverse roles and distinctive blue eyes and general sex appeal....
into marrying her.
In 1999, Otto was cast as Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
, a shieldmaiden
Shieldmaiden
A shieldmaiden was a woman who had chosen to fight as a warrior in Scandinavian folklore and mythology. They are often mentioned in sagas such as Hervarar saga and in Gesta Danorum. Shieldmaidens also appear in stories of other Germanic nations: Goths, Cimbri, and Marcomanni. The mythical Valkyries...
of Rohan
Rohan
Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is a grassland which lies north of its ally Gondor and north-west of Mordor, the realm of Sauron, their enemy . It is inhabited by the Rohirrim, a people of herdsmen and farmers who are well-known for their horses and cavalry....
, in The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
film trilogy. Director Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
cast her immediately after viewing the audition video she had filmed in Australia. For the role, Otto spent six weeks learning stunt choreography and horseback riding. Otto's character was introduced in the trilogy's second film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002 and appeared in the third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
, the following year. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a critical and financial success, and the third film won the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
in 2004. Otto's performance earned her an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Otto's next project was the Australian television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story (2004). The film is a drama that portrays the story of Lindy Chamberlain
Lindy Chamberlain
Alice Lynne Chamberlain-Creighton was at the centre of one of Australia's most publicised murder trials, in which she was convicted of killing her baby daughter, Azaria. The conviction was later overturned.-Early life:...
, who was convicted (in 1982) of killing her baby daughter, Azaria, in one of Australia's most publicized murder trials. Otto was cast as Chamberlain after her husband, Peter O'Brien, had been cast as prosecutor Ian Barker. She was drawn to the role because it provided her with the "prospect of exploring an unconventional character." At the 2005 Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
s, Otto won "Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" for her role.
Director Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, impressed by Otto's performance in The Lord of the Rings, called her to ask if she would play opposite Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
in the big-budget science fiction film War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds (2005 film)
War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and...
(2005). Otto, pregnant at the time, believed she would have to turn down the role, but the script was reworked to accommodate her. After the birth of her daughter in 2005, Otto took a rest from films to concentrate on motherhood and theatre roles in Australia.
In 2007, Otto starred as Cricket Stewart, the wife of a successful director, in the television miniseries The Starter Wife. That same year, she was cast in the American television series Cashmere Mafia
Cashmere Mafia
Cashmere Mafia is an American television dramedy which ran on ABC from January 6, 2008 to February 20, 2008. The series was created by Kevin Wade, who also served as executive producer alongside Darren Star, Gail Katz, Jeff Rake and Michael Pressman, with Susie Fitzgerald co-executive producing....
. In the series she plays Juliet Draper, a successful female executive who must rely on her friends to juggle the demands of a career and family in New York City. Otto chose to star in the series because "American television at the moment is so interesting and, particularly, the characters for women are so fantastic" and she "liked the idea of having a character over a long period of time and developing it." The series was cancelled in May 2008.
Theatre
Otto made her theatricalTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
debut in the 1986 production of The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant for the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
. Three more theatrical productions for the Sydney Theatre Company followed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2002, she returned to the stage playing Nora Helmer in A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
opposite her future husband Peter O'Brien. Otto's performance earned her a 2003 Helpmann Award
Helpmann Award
The Helpmann Awards recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia's live performing arts sectors. The recognized disciplines include musical and physical theatre, contemporary and classical music, opera, and dance, with a comedy category introduced in 2006...
nomination and the MO Award for "Best Female Actor in a Play".
Her next theatre role was in the psychological thriller
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
Boy Gets Girl
Boy Gets Girl
Boy Gets Girl is a 2000 play by Rebecca Gilman. The play received its first production at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.Boy Gets Girl uses the story of what happens when a blind date turns into a living nightmare to examine stalking, sexism and the nature of the idea of romantic pursuit...
(2005), in which she played Theresa, a journalist for a New York magazine. Otto committed to the project days before she found out she was pregnant. Robyn Nevin, the director, rescheduled the production from December 2004 to September 2005 so Otto could appear in it. In 2005, Nevin began pre-production on a play that she commissioned especially for Otto.
Personal life
On 1 January 2003, she married actor Peter O'Brien, after the two had met while performing in A Doll's HouseA Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
. Otto and O'Brien have one child, a daughter Darcey, who was born on 1 April 2005. The pregnancy almost forced her to turn down her role in War of the Worlds. Since the birth of her daughter, Otto has limited her work so she can spend time with her family at their home in Australia.
In a 2004 interview, Otto stated that she hopes she will never be as famous as fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
because she's "not sure [she] could ever deal with that."
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Emma's War | Emma Grange | |
| 1987 | Initiation | Stevie | |
| 1988 | Rebecca | ||
| 1991 | Nell Tiscowitz | Nominated- Australian Film Institute Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry... "Actress in a leading role" |
|
| 1992 | Heroes II: The Return | Roma Page | Television film |
| 1992 | Annie | Nominated- Australian Film Institute "Best Supporting Actress" Nominated- Film Critics Circle of Australia "Best Female Supporting actor" |
|
| 1993 | Jennie O'Brien | ||
| 1995 | Sex Is a Four Letter Word | Viv | |
| 1996 | Love Serenade Love Serenade Love Serenade is a 1996 Australian feature film directed by Shirley Barrett. It is a comedy film which has the tagline: "Two sisters will do anything to hook the right man."... |
Dimity Hurley | |
| 1997 | Katherine | Nominated- Australian Film Institute "Actress in a Leading role" Nominated- Film Critics Circle of Australia award "Best female actor" |
|
| 1997 | True Love and Chaos | Mimi | |
| 1997 | Doing Time for Patsy Cline Doing Time for Patsy Cline Doing Time for Patsy Cline is a 1997 Australian multi-award-winning film starring Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh, and Matt Day and directed by Chris Kennedy.-Plot:... |
Patsy | |
| 1998 | Dead Letter Office | Alice Walsh | Nominated- Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards "Best Female actor" |
| 1998 | In the Winter Dark | Ronnie | Nominated- Australian Film Institute "Best Supporting Actress" |
| 1998 | Marty Bell | ||
| 1999 | Cora Redding | Television film | |
| 2000 | Kin | Anna | |
| 2000 | What Lies Beneath What Lies Beneath What Lies Beneath is a 2000 American supernatural horror-thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis. It stars veteran actors Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a well-to-do couple who experience a strange haunting that uncovers secrets about their past.... |
Mary Feur | |
| 2001 | La volpe a tre zampe ("The Three-legged Wolf") | Ruth | Filmed in Italian |
| 2001 | Human Nature Human Nature (film) Human Nature is a 2001 American comedy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. The film stars Tim Robbins, Rhys Ifans, Miranda Otto and Patricia Arquette... |
Gabrielle | |
| 2001 | Mrs. Hurtle | Television miniseries | |
| 2002 | Doctor Sleep Doctor Sleep Doctor Sleep aka Close Your Eyes , Hypnotic is a 2002 film directed by Nick Willing based on the book of the same name written by Madison Smartt Bell.... |
Clara Strother | |
| 2002 | Julie Walking Home Julie Walking Home Julie Walking Home is a 2002 drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. It stars Miranda Otto and William Fichtner. It won an award at the 2003 Method Fest.-Plot:... |
Julie | |
| 2002 | Éowyn Éowyn Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:... |
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated—Empire Award Empire Awards An Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the locale and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented... for Best Actress Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast is an annual award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.-2000s:*2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring... Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
|
| 2003 | Danny Deckchair Danny Deckchair Danny Deckchair is a 2003 Australian comedy film written and directed by Jeff Balsmeyer. The majority of Danny Deckchair was shot in Bellingen, a Mid North Coast town in New South Wales.... |
Glenda Lake | |
| 2003 | Éowyn Éowyn Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:... |
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast National Board of Review Award for Best Cast National Board of Review Award for Best Cast The National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble is an annual film award given by the National Board of Review.-1990s:... Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast is an annual award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.-2000s:*2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring... Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
|
| 2004 | In My Father's Den In My Father's Den (film) In My Father's Den is a 2004 New Zealand film written and directed by Brad McGann and starring Matthew Macfadyen and Emily Barclay. It is based on the novel of the same title by Maurice Gee... |
Penny | |
| 2004 | Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story | Lindy Chamberlain Lindy Chamberlain Alice Lynne Chamberlain-Creighton was at the centre of one of Australia's most publicised murder trials, in which she was convicted of killing her baby daughter, Azaria. The conviction was later overturned.-Early life:... |
Television miniseries; Logie Award Logie Award The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a... "Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Drama Actress" Nominated- Australian Film Institute "Best Lead television actress" |
| 2004 | Flight of the Phoenix Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film) Flight of the Phoenix is a 2004 remake of a 1965 film, both based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix, by Elleston Trevor, about a group of people who survive a plane crash in the Gobi Desert and must build a new plane out of the old one to escape. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Tyrese... |
Kelly Johnson | |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds War of the Worlds (2005 film) War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and... |
Mary Ann Ferrier | |
| 2007 | Cricket Stewart | Television miniseries | |
| 2007 | Cashmere Mafia Cashmere Mafia Cashmere Mafia is an American television dramedy which ran on ABC from January 6, 2008 to February 20, 2008. The series was created by Kevin Wade, who also served as executive producer alongside Darren Star, Gail Katz, Jeff Rake and Michael Pressman, with Susie Fitzgerald co-executive producing.... |
Juliet Draper | Television series |
| 2009 | In Her Skin | Mrs. Barber | |
| 2009 | Blessed Blessed (2009 film) Blessed is a 2009 drama film. It was released in Australia on 10 September 2009. It stars Miranda Otto and Frances O'Connor. It is a film adaptation of the play Who's Afraid of the Working Class?.... |
Bianca | |
| 2010 | South Solitary South Solitary -Cast:*Miranda Otto ... Meredith Appleton*Marton Csokas ... Jake Fleet*Rohan Nichol ... Harry Stanley*Essie Davis ... Alma Stanley*Barry Otto ... George Wadsworth-Reviews:... |
Meredith | |
| 2010 | Get It at Goode's | Patty Williams | Pre-production |