Quotes from Miranda Otto

There's a film I did years ago, 'Love Serenade, ' that I still really love. It's such an oddball sense of humor. It was a really special film for me when I did it.

If there is a book that the script came from you have to read it, you have to see what you can get out of it: mood, back story and things that may not even be in the film. They kick off your imagination and broaden the character, I think.

Everyone says you should get a photo taken of yourself while you're pregnant. I've got a film [War of the Worlds]. It'll be nice for my daughter, too, to look at one day. She was in it.

Usually, I end up looking for something completely different to who I last played. But there is just a spark that's lit when I read a script or character I want to play.

England is very interested as well, and other countries if I could speak the languages!

My parents split up when I was young, and they are still good friends. I think it's often projected that these things have to be so acrimonious. It's so often not the case.

I think most big stars do have just a certain amount of mystery; you don't know everything.

The detective genre is not easy because you've got to get to a conclusion that is unexpected.

I've made my peace with being in the spotlight, definitely.

Soho House is normally a private-members club, but the Berlin one has a hotel open to the public. Many beautiful rooms in a cool location, and who knows who you'll run into in the lobby!

I love the Russians for their verve, their melancholia, their vivacity, their unpredictability, and their humour.

I guess I find it easy to play uptight characters.

That fascinated me. I used to watch all these operations on TV and thought it would be really cool to do that.

Acting is a freelance career... you never stop having to prove yourself and fight for work.

Some scripts you read and say, 'I've just got to do this' and you find a way of making it work. Some things you turn down because of the impact on family.

I like working intensely, then going away and thinking about it, working out why it didn't work and then coming back to it. It makes the work richer, I think.

As your career goes on, you get to flex your brain a little more and play characters that are stronger and more intelligent.

I think that's the kind of women that people are interested in. They're interested in strong women characters who are stronger than the male characters sometimes, in some ways. That's what's interesting and attractive about women.

When I was working on 'Homeland,' there was a consultant who helped me a lot... I went to Washington and met with my consultant there, and he actually organised a lunch with several people from the Intelligence Committee.

Young actors are serious about their work and don't take any time out from it. I'm very serious about my work; there are probably only two films I've done where I had a really good time.

It could be a stupid thing to say, but people should realize that it is easy to get concerned about yourself and to lose contact.

As actors, we are accustomed to moving around, and it's always great to live and work in a city - you feel like you are truly living a life there.

I think you go through a period as a teenager of being quite cool and unaffected by things.

If there is a book that the script came from you have to read it, you have to see what you can get out of it: mood, back story and things that may not even be in the film. They kick off your imagination and broaden the character, I think.